Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-19
W l..DCNEsDAY. DECEMBER 10, 1906
INTEREST IN FORESTRY.

The directors of the American Forestry
Associa ton have just filed their annua!
report at Washington. The most import
ant thing il tiisc,oses is that popular IN
awakened all over the United states.
This has been brought about largely
through the efforts of local forestry as
sooiations in the different sections.
In the plains region this increasing in
terest has shown itself chiefly in connec-
ton with the tree-plantins work OF the
division of forestry The number OF ap-
pl!cations for planting plans and for
working plans which have been recelV- |
ed ibv that division and the numerous
additions to this associations MEMBER
ship indicates the practical way in which
the country is taking forestry. That it
has long since ceased to be chiefly senti-
mental is shown most clearly by the
number of students now registered in the
three forest schools.
During the past SuliliilSl DetNeSh SA->-
ty ana seventy student assistants have
been at work in the field under the divis-
ion of forestry. The applications for the
positions reached the extremely large to-
tai of 80.
During the last year two new national
forest reserves have been set aside by
presidential proclamation. One, the
Santa Inez reserve in California. contains
22e5 square miles: and the other one, the
Crow Creek Forest reserve in Wyoming,
is about eighty-siN square miles in eS-
tent The Olympic Forest reserve in
Washington has been cut down by $50
square miles: the area thrown open to
settlement being chiefly in the north
western corner ofsthe reserve where
there were already a large number of
privat holdings. The Big Horn reserve
of Wyoming has been increased by the
addition OF eighty-three square miles, on
the southeast and southwest sides of the
reserve.
\ long advance toward a proper man
agement of the public forests has been
marked by the request of the secretary
of the interior made to the division of
forestry through the department of agrl-
culture last spring. for the preparation
of working plans for all OF the national
reserves The area for Which working
plans have thus been requested is Sc
large N proportion to the all to small re.
sources of the division, that it has only
been possible to begin the work in a few
places this year. 1t has, however, beer
possible TO have the summers surveys
cover the ground in the Black Hill:
where the conditions for working plan
for a tract of over one million acres ar
unusually favorable for forest manage
mcnt. The division has also managed t.
make preliminary examinations for fu
t,lra surveys of the Lewis and Clarke re
serves of Montana, of the San Bernardinc
San Francisco mountains and Sierra re
serves in California;; of the Prescott an
Black Mesa reserves in Arizona; and O
the Big Horn reserve in Wyoming. Thu
this year has seen the first step towar
conservative numbering in the Nations
Forest reserves.
During the last year the importar
work of the geological survey in surve!
inc and manning the national reserve
has been continued, and full reports an
maps covering the Pixies Peak, Plu
Creek South Platte, Battlement Mes
and White River Plateau reserves
Colorado: the San Gabriel, San Berna
dino and San Jacinto reserves in soutl
ern California and the Flathead and Bi
ter Root reserves in Montana al
Wyoming, have been published. Furth
statistics about the timber resources
Washington also appeared. Examin
tions and surveys of the forested a.
burned-over lands of northern MINI
sofa have been completed and reports a
now in the press. The surveys of t
Olympic reserve in Washington ha
been completed and the country betwe
the Washington reserve and the Mt. r
nier Forest reserve has also been co
pleted. In Califo MIA surveys have be
made in the northern Sierras, and
forest survey of the Sierra reserve l
been nearly completed.