Remarks to the Forest Rangers at Santa Barbara, California

Let me say a word of thanks to the members of the forestry force who acted as my escort. I wish to thank the other gentlemen also, but particularly the members of the forestry force. I am, as you gentlemen probably know, exceedingly interested in the question of forestry preservation. I think our people are growing more and more to understand that in reference to the forests and the wild creatures of the wilderness our aim should be not to destroy them simply for the selfish pleasure of one generation, but to keep them for our children and our children's children. I wish you, the Forest Rangers, and also all the others, to protect the game and wild creatures, and of course in California, where the water supply is a matter of such vital moment, the preservation of the forests for the merely utilitarian side is of the utmost, of the highest possible consequence; and there are no members of our body politic who are doing better work than those who are engaged in the preservation of the forests, the keeping of nature as it is for the sake of its use and for the sake of its beauty. [Cheers and applause]