t may come soon, when forest
destruction will be legally recognized as hostile to the public welfare,
and when lumbermen will be compelled by law to handle their forests so
as to insure the reproduction of them under reasonable conditions and
within a reasonable time. The idea is neither tyrannical nor new. In
democratic Switzerland, private owners of timberland are restrained by
law from destroying the forests upon which the welfare of that mountain
region so largely depends, and if they disobey, their forest lands are
replanted by the Government at the owners' expense.

Another opening for Foresters in the employ of lumbermen is through the
forest fire protective associations. Of these, two stand out most
conspicuously at the present time, one the Northwestern Conservation and
Forestry Association, the other the Oregon Forest Fire Association. Each
has as its executive officer a trained Forester whose knowledge of the
woods not only makes him exceedingly useful to his employers, but also,
when combined with the Forester's point of view, enables him to be of
great value in protecting the general interest in the forest.

The object and methods of one of the associations is described by its
Secretary as follows:

"A field hitherto narrow but continually broadening, and offering much
opportunity for those with peculiar qualifications, is the management of
the cooeperative forest work carried on by timber owners in many
localities, often jointly with State and Government. This movement
originated in the Pacific Northwest, where it still has the highest
development, but is extending to the Lake States, New England, and
Canada.

"As a rule the primary object of these cooeperative associations is fire
prevention and their local managers must have demonstrated ability to
organize effective patrol systems, build telephone lines, apply every
ingenuity to supplying and equipping their forces, and, above all, to
handle men in emergencies. But in most cases the association of forest
owners to this end has led also to progress in many other matters
inseparable from improvement, such as study of reforestation
possibilities, forest legislation, educating lumberman and public in
forest preservation, and the extension of cooperation in all these as
well as in fire prevention from private to State and federal agencies.

"The development of such activities is already employing several highly
paid men who can command the confidence, n