The Portland daily press., 1896-10-02
TREES AND WATER.
Why the Western Forests Should DO Pro-
tected.

q (Mr. Warner in Harper's Magazine
The American public, let Into the
presence Of some of the finest natural
scenery in the world, has acted like a
bull In asschina shop; it has ''gone for it,
1t has never hesitated to destroy the
beauty of a hillside. of mountaint0p,
of mountain pond or lake, of lovely
river or brook, or any sort of natural
beauty, by the destruction of which a
dollar could be made Immediately. 1t
has even tried, and fought hard, to vul-
gar1ze and make unsightly the great
monumental wonders. like Niagara, the
mountain and pond attractions of the
Adriondacks, the White Mountains, the
Yosemite, the Big Trees and the Yellow
stone Park. In some Of these cases the
efforts have been arrested, after consider
able devastation was wrought, but not i'll
all. We have recklessly spent consider
able portion of our capital OF natural
beauty. individuals of taste and as
sooiatons Of lovers of nature and of
beauty are striving here and there to re-
store this capital, but many great natural
features of beauty can mover be regained.
Meantime the public indifference to the
value of this beauty, and of this oppor-
tunity for recreation and pleasure, is
very slowly overcome. 1t lie singular
thing to notice In democracy that
made for the benefit of the whole people,
there springs up hostility to the gov
eminent, and voters are prone to take the
side of the few ''Rrabbers" and dema-
gogues who wish to appropriate it to
their selfish purposes. This has been the
experience in the East, and it is even
more marked now in the new and ag-
gressive population of the Far Vest.
In fact, it is in the Far West that gov
eminent interference has now become
imperatlvely necessary, il the whole
future of that vast area il not to be sao-
riced to the greed of the moment. The
government must protect the interests of
the many and of the coming many from
the rapacity OF the present few. Only
a few years ago the great middle Far
West was regarded as desert, and the
mountain ranges. the back bone of tho
continent, as useless scenery. The open
ing of mines, the building of railways
which facilitated mining and gave access
TO the mountain timhar, and some ex-
pariments in Irrigation, changed all that
For time the newly discovered wealth
seemed inexhausti Bile. But 1t was pres
emily seen that mines could be exhausted
and that the removal of all the valuable
timber, at the rate il was going on, was
only question of short time At
tention WAS then more seriously turned
to irrigation. II winter could be procured
all the desert places could be made fer
l. &11
failed the land could support a vast
population. But plenty of water was es-
sential. How GOULD it be obtained? Only
from the mountains; and they would
remain stOrages of sufficient water only
if they retained their forests and their
vegetation of grass and shrubs. The
enemies to this growth were the lumber
men and the sheep. 1t became evident
that if all these natural supplies of water
passed into private hands their useful
ness as aids of irrigation would be gone
The forests would disappear, the verdure
would be nlbbled away, and the great
West and all the Pacific slope would ap-
proaoh the aridness of the moon.
= The public has been slow to see this
When a reservation of the Yosemite Val
ley and Of the Big Trees was made, it
was largely due to a sentimental move
ment to preserve national wonders of
scenery. The encroachments of private
persons have been with difficulty re-
strained. The state uf California seemed
powerless to protect the reservations,
and insensible of the peril to its own ex-
istence. So long as there seemed only
a sentimental Yeason for the reservations,
public opinion was Indifferent, and
private greed was allowed to 20 on with
the destruction of the natural resources
of the wealth of the country. But now
that it is clearly seen that not only the
middle far West but the whole Pacific
slope depends for water upon the pr eser-
walton of the mountain ranges in state
of nature, the gov eminent is sustained
in its efforts to secure the future pros
perity of that vast region. 1t is now ac-
knowledged by the thoughtful and the
Intelligent that all the coast ranges of
mountains from the north down to San
Diego county, California, ought to be
reserved as part of the public domain,
and be forever secure from private specu.
lation and destruction. If this 10 not
done, California will lose It's source of
irrigation. And what is true of California
Is true of vast regions of the middle far
West.