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Show 13 One fact stands out from this short review. The basic requirements and necessity for sub- alpine reforestation were clearly understood 85 years ago. The successful modern research program has solved many technical problems, but it has introduced no new principles. The fai 1 ureto prevent exploitation and damage of the timberline zone was not due to a lack of knowledge. It was an economic and political failure to act on knowledge already available. This is a marked contrast with France, where alpine forests have been protected for a century, and with Switzerland, where a federal law enacted in I876 forbade henceforth any reduction in the total area of Swiss forests. The Austrian experience stands as an instructive example for all of us engaged today in administration and use of timberline lands. Altitude, plant communities, terrain, geology and microclimate differ widely in this zone from one continent and one mountain range to the next, and from one climate to another. But everywhere the sub- alpine zones share a timberline forest equilibrium which, once destroyed, can be restored only at great effort and expense. The Austrians might be excused for ignoring their prophets in 1880, when principles of conservation were poorly formulated and often ignored, but such an excuse will not stand elsewhere today. The lessons to be learned from the Austrian Alps are especially pertinent to the United States Forest Service at a time when planned utilization of American timberline lands and forests has only just begun, and when the pressure of lumbering and especially recreation on these areas will increase rapidly in the future. The judgement of those who will look back on today from the vantage point of another half- century will hardly be charitable if these |
