Show THE VALUE OF NATIONAL FOREST TO MOAB the following essay written by clara taylor moab high school student was awarded third prize in the forest protection week contest sponsored by the la sal forest office ediar the waste or misuse of our national resources cuts away the ground bokr on which our national prosperity 13 built forestry should be encouraged on our farms around our romes pang streets and in parks the planting of every individual tree helps the national cause one of the most vital uses of our forests is as a coverage for our watersheds wood and water give life to moab and the farms surrounding it the livestock industry depends wi the mountains and the vegetation which covers their slopes and this is one of the most important industries of moab irrigated farming another cf industries depends on the forests for during the rainy seaon the trees absorb the water and dur ing dry seasons allow it to seep slowly out water power development too depends on the resources drawn from the mountains and moab depends entirely on water power for lights trees are an important factor in flood prevention and this is a question of vital importance to moab when moab was first settled its streams were small and did no damage but now since our trees have been so rapidly destroyed the floods eat away more lands ever year and cause heavy loss the only way to prevent this loss is to protect and rc uld the la sal forests the forests also have their use as a place of recreation and beauty the streams are being stocked with fish and the trees are the home of wild i game this is an asset to moab not only on the pleasure side but financially as the will be attracted by them and this means money brought into the town then too one must buy a license before hunting or fishing on the forest reserves thus it may be seen that practically all of industries and some of its pleasure depend either directly or on its forests therefore moab cannot allow the la sal forest to be destroyed at the rapid rate which it has been to prevent this every citizen must be made to realize the vast importance of trees and make an honest effort to preserve them fire the great destructive agency causes monstrous loss every year some of these are caused by lightning but a great majority of them are due to some careless act on the part of man leaving camp fires and throwing lighted matches or cigarettes on the ground where they may ignite with dry twigs or grass are two of the nast common causes of forest fire the smoker according to forest officials is the most cresis tent source of these preventable fires the tiny blaze started by them soon spread to great proportions and causes terrible loss but fire is only one of the destructive agencies mans ruthless cutting of young trees and uprooting of shrubs and wild flowers adds enormously to the waste which with a little care could so easily be prevented these two causes both due to man could be easily prevented if everyone could only be made to fully realize how dependent they are on trees if a tree were some thing which could be raised in three or four years their preservation would not seem so important but it takes hundreds of years to raise our most valuable trees and it is plain what an injustice it is for man to destroy in so short a time what it has taken nature hundreds of years to create |