How terrible the forest fires were in this western country is well illustrated by what an old California settler once told me, and what I have heard repeatedly in many Western States. He said: "In the years before the Forest Service took over the care and protection of the forests around here, the mountains within view of my ranch were not visible for many months at a time, being almost continually enveloped in smoke from the big forest fires that were raging in the forests all summer without ever being under control. They started in the spring as soon as it became dry and were not suppressed until the late fall rains and snows put them out." But he added with great enthusiasm, "Since the Service has taken charge the sky around here is as clear as crystal all summer. I never see any forest fires, not even smoke, because the Rangers seem to get to them before they get to be of any size." Such testimony as this speaks volumes for the efficiency of the present system of protecting the Forests from fire. _The Watershed Cover Was Preserved._ The destruction of the forest cover on the watersheds feeding thousands of streams which rise in the western mountains would have had its bad effect on stream flow--low water during the long dry periods, and destructive floods after heavy rains. This condition of affairs would have meant disaster to the systems of irrigation by which most of the western farmers raise their crops. It would also have seriously impeded and in many cases prevented electric power development, to say nothing of affecting the domestic water of many of our large western cities whose drinking water comes from the streams rising in the National Forests. The protection of these valuable watersheds by the Forest Service from fire and destructive lumbering is of such vital importance to the welfare of the nation that it has been made one of the main reasons for establishing National Forests. _Civilization Brought to the Mountains._ What the National Forest movement has done for settling and building up the Western States can hardly be overestimated. It has brought civilization into the wilderness. Roads, trails, telephone lines, and other modern conveniences have been brought to remote corners of the mountains. It has encouraged the settlement of the country by calling attention to the agricultural lands within the National Forests. More important than that, it has assured the West permanent towns, permanent civilization, and not a temporary, careless, shiftless civilization which vanishes with the exploitation of resources, as it did under the old régime.