Which viewpoint was prominent in commercial forestry?

Correct answer: Seeing forests as economic resources

The direct answer is option C: forests were seen as economic resources. Commercial forestry means managing forests mainly for useful products and income, especially timber needed for railway sleepers, ships, construction, and trade. The reasoning is: colonial governments wanted wood; wood was treated as a valuable product; therefore forests were measured, classified, planted, and controlled to obtain regular supplies. Option A is wrong because stories and cultural ideas are not the main economic viewpoint of commercial forestry. Option B is wrong because forests were not literally treated as seas; this has no connection with timber production or forest administration. Option C is correct because it expresses the central idea that forests could provide revenue and raw materials. Option D is wrong because commercial forestry depended on strict rules, planned cutting, selected trees, and government control, not on leaving forests without rules. A weak student should connect the words commercial, money, timber, and economic resource. Memory cue: commercial forestry means forest for market and material, not forest left completely free.