By Glenn Wiggins, Mayor

Port Angeles, Washington

Logger for 40 years

glenn@olypen.com

This morning, I am indebted to "Loggers World" for printing something everyone in timber country should read. Would you please print in its entirety the following quote by Teddy Roosevelt speaking to the Society of American Foresters in 1903?

"And now, first and foremost, you can never afford to forget for a moment what is the object of our forest policy. That object is not to preserve forests because they beautiful, though that is good in itself; nor because they are refuges for the wild creatures of the wilderness, though that, too, is good in itself; but the primary object of our forest policy, as of the land policy of the Unites States, is the making of prosperous homes. It is part of the traditional policy of home making in our country. Every other consideration comes as secondary. You yourselves have got to keep this practical object before your minds: to remember that a forest which contributes nothing to the wealth, progress, or safety of the country is of no interest to the Government, and should be of little interest to the forester. Your attention must be directed to the preservation of forests, not as an end in itself, but as the means of preserving and increasing the prosperity of the nation."

Today, in the West, we have a choice to endorse the President's Healthy Forest Initiative or to continue to watch public forests burn at great cost while damaging all forest resources, including wildlife. I'm sure Teddy Roosevelt would have endorsed the former.