A Chapter in the Early History of the United States Forest Policy

The attitude of the early settlers toward the timber resources of the country was generally one of carelessness or even hostility. This was only natural and inevitable, since in most regions the land was covered with forests, which must be cleared off before agriculture was possible, which represented only an obstacle to the spread of civilization-a negative value. Toward a resource which at first seemed inexhaustible and only a bar to progress, there could at least be no attitude of conservation