Mr. Fell:
This is more than an afterthought – but rather to express an anxiety lest we fail to often and in many ways convey to Mr. Apperson and Mr. Cope our admiration for what they have so nobly accomplished by lifelong devotion to the saving of something of wild nature because they love people and desire the best for them. We will remember that it must pull their heartstrings sometimes when they realize they have relinquished their most precious possession, knowing they could not hope to preserve it except through some safeguarding agency like ours in which they could put all their trust. When a group of us accompanied Mr. Cope on a walk in his great forest last November 17, considering trails, he confided that one day out in the sanctuary with Mrs. Cope he started to take up a small plant or seedling tree, and she placed a restraining hand on his arm and gently chided: “Remember, it does not belong to you now.” He smiled as he told us, but I thought a bit sadly, and we hastened to reassure him it was no less his very own though we were so gladly sharing now in its protection.
Sincerely,
Alvin G. Whitney