Excerpt from A General Introduction to Forestry in the United States: With Special Reference to Recent Forest Conservation Policies The American people have enjoyed the use and benefit of sufficient primary natural resources to develop this nation to a position of great strength and prosperity. If our people will learn how to use, manage, and maintain them for the widest present and permanent benefits and to apply this knowledge gained by experience through the coming years, it is likely that our natural resources may continue to contribute in very substantial fashion to further strength, prosperity, and happiness. Our forests, next to our soils, are our most precious natural resource. Around this vast resource, occupying approximately one-fourth of our total land surface, is built a new concept of national planning. The work to be accomplished is conservation, management, and enhanced use, and this is a challenge not for the next few years but for many generations to come. Our rich and varied forests are capable of supplying our domestic requirements and a very extensive and profitable export trade that should inure to the benefit and prosperity of our people. It is of great importance that due consideration be given to the conservation of our forest resources. This work is intimately integrated with other primary resources, chiefly soil, water, and mineral. It is significant that, within the past few years, a new appreciation and understanding of the contributions which our natural resources may make to the prosperity of the nation have developed. Through recent government emergency measures, conservation has enjoyed most noteworthy forward progress. It is hoped that this general treatise on the subject of forestry may contribute to a better understanding and appreciation of the part our forests may play in the welfare and happiness of the American nation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.