The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1930-02-27
FOREST PRESERVATION IS
DISCUSSED AT CIVIC CLUB
Mrs. w. w. Grant Reads Inter
esting Paper on Current Topic
Other Subjects Discussed

Other Subjects Discussed
Preservation of the forests of the
country was the chief topic at the reg
ular meeting of the Oakland Civic
Club held Tuesday afternoon at the
home of Miss Grace Jones on Second
street. Mrs. W. W. Grant read an in.
teresting paper on forestry in general
which brought out it's immediate rela.
tionship to our community.
Mrs. James Wilson, chairman Of
the clubs legislative committee, sug-
gested that the women of the county
show more interest in the primary and
general elections. Mrs. E. Il. Sincell
spoke on the economic Importance OF
birds to man and their inter-relation-
ship to insects and plant life. Mrs
T. C. Hinebaugh spoke of beautify-
ing the waste places in and around
Oakland. Miss Martha Engle, of the
high school faculty, expressed her
willingness to cooperate with the wo-
men in any project in connection with
permanent planting which they might
assume.
Miss Loar announced that at the
next meeting, March rs, an election
of officers would occur.
The paper prepared and read by
Mrs. Grant follows:
Our Forests.
"In these days when laments over
our vanishing forests" and plans for
their rescue are not uncommon, it is
difficult to realize that not so many
years ago one of our statesmen ex-
pressed his surprise that man as
forceful as Theodore Roosevelt should
stake up fad like forestry" 1t was
all right for the worn out countries
of the old world but it wasn't needed
here.
"Yet it is more than thirty years
ago that the women of our country
saw the need of considering the GER
tain consequences that were sure to
follow our reckless waste of forest re-
sources, and so in 1896 the G. F. w.
C. adopted resolutions pledging the
clubs to study forest needs and con-
ditions. While today this seems COM
monplace enough, yet it should be re-
membered that at that date there was
not college or school in this country
where training in scientific forestry
was taught.
"From that time on interest grew.
The women showed their interest not
by just expressing their love for trees
or by attending memorial planting,
but by carefully studying forestry
conditions as they soon learned how
the stripping of trees had brought
famine to China and the distress OF
the twice yearly floods that sweep
her treeless country.
"China is practically forestless.
Lacking the protection Of timber, its
hills erode and wash away in the
rains. Its water supply does not enjoy
the purifying effect of trees. It's wild
life is not important. Acres upon acres
of its surface are barren waste. China
had 20 forest policy.
"They knew that the cedars OF
Lebanon are told of in history, but
they exist there only. The trees that
once were in these lands of Biblical
days are no more. AS they were cut
or burned no provision for the future
was made. We know that these coun-
tries have been the scenes OF many
racial strifes. There has been misery
and helplessness. Their people enjoy
few comforts and little security in
life. We cannot say that had they
a wealth of forest they would be per-
fectly content, but we can say, how
ever, that if they had forests they
would have been richer and stronger.
These countries had no forest policy.
They did not look to the future. We
need a forest policy because our fu-
ture depends on it.
eve are the biggest wood users on
the face of the earth. The people of
the United States actually use two
fifths of all the wood consumed in the
world. 1 see no chance of an early
abandonment of the wood-using habit.
The way out of this situation is clear.
We have been, and hope we may con-
tinue to be, nation of wood-users,
but to enjoy this privilege and the
Concluded on Page Four)