“The beginning of the forestry in this country was back in 1907, when the Allegheny got up and the Monongahela got up and they met at Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh got her feet wet to beat the band.  At that time Philander C. Knox and the Mellons, began to inquire what was going to happen, and he went down to Washington, looked up the forester down there who was Gifford Pinchot - he occupied two offices about like this and had as many as two stenographers.  Pinchot told them that it was caused by the denuding of timber at the head waters of both the Monongahela and the Allegheny.  And that it would get worse as time went on.  And the reason why it was happening was this, accidentally the rain had fallen heavily in West Virginia and had fallen heavily in Pennsylvania and they was gonna have trouble.  And he said what was the cure, and he said dams, but particularly reforestation and that is the beginning of the movement of national forests in the East.  And it’s grown to a certain extent, but here in Marlinton, I think our people have about three offices.  I don’t know how many people they employ right straight through, but we’re bigger than Washington was then.”