If the public in general understood the difference between a
National Park and a National Forest, there could be no doubt as
to the opinion of any intelligent citizen. The distinction is so
simple that it seems that it should be easy to get it within the
comprehension of anybody. A National Park is an open-air museum
set apart by Congress either to preserve from commercial
development beautiful scenery, trees, natural monuments, or some
of the forests that are being cut commercially both in private and
national forests. The idea is not commercial development along
even conservative and constructive lines, but absolute
preservation in a state of nature. Once this distinction is
grasped, no one can doubt that these two institutions demand
entirely different management. It would be as sensible to put men
with the same training in charge of both National Park and
National Forest, as it would be to place the same men with the
same training in charge of a busy shoe factory and a museum of
archæology.
[Illustration: MOUNT ST. ELIAS FROM EAST SIDE OF AGASSIZ GLACIER,
ALASKA]