You
see, this forest-preserve business is new out here. Formerly the lumbermen
bought so much land and cut over it--skinned it. Two years ago, when the
National Forests were laid out, the lumbering men--that is, the loggers,
sawmill hands, and so on--found they did not get as much employment as
formerly. So generally they're sore on the National Forest idea."
"But, Dick, if they understand the idea of forestry they'd never oppose
it."
"Maybe. I don't understand it too well myself. I can fight fire--that's my
business; but this ranger work is new. I doubt if the Westerners will take
to forestry. There've been some shady deals all over the West because of
it. Buell, now, he's a timber shark. He bought so much timber from the
Government, and had the markers come in to mark the cut; then after they
were gone, he rushed up a mill and clapped on a thousand hands."
"And the rangers stand for it? Where'll their jobs be when the Government
finds out?"
"I was against it from the start. So was Jim, particularly. But the other
rangers persuaded us."
It began to dawn upon me that Dick Leslie might, after all, turn out to be
good soil in which to plant some seeds of forestry. I said no more then, as
we were busy packing for the start, but when we had mounted I began to
talk.
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