From the moment I stepped off the plane in Luxembourg and onto the bus that would take me into West Germany, I knew I was in for the experience of a lifetime. It was May 29 and for the next three months, I was to spend the time working for the Baden- Wuarttemburg State Forest Service in the Black Forest of West Germany. I must admit, it was a dream come true.

Over the many years that my predecessors and I have written position statements for the Ames Forester a common thread of comment has emerged. lt is customary to applaud the efforts of the current student body, to present faculty members as paragons of virtue, to recognize the accomplishments of the department, and to hold forth high hope for the future. Through good times and bad, the formula for foreword writing has been faithfully followed. So let it be for now, as it is both popular and trite to say, whether these are the best of times or the worst of times, it takes but a modest elevation of perspective to see that every bright promise and every dark fear has been with us before.