Arizona republican., 1904-12-07

rigation ranchers and settlers, cities
 and towns to whom their municipal
 water supplies are of the very first inn
 portance users and furnishcrs of water
 power and the users of water for do-
 mestic, manufacturing, mining and
 other purposes. All these are directly
 dependent upon the forest reserves.
 IIhe second reason for which forest
 reserves are created is to preserve the
 timber supply for various classes of
 wood users. Among the more import
 ant of tThese are settlers under the
 reclamation act and other acts, for
 whom cheap and accessible supply of timber for domestic uses is absoIu- tely necessary; miners and prospecters,
 who are in serious danger of losing their timber supply by fire of through export. by lumber companies when timber lands adjacent to their mines pass into private ownership; lumber men, transportation companies, build CTS. and commercial interests in gem eral.
 Although the wisdom of creating forest reserves is nearly everywhere heartily recognized, yet in a few To- calities there has been misunderstand- ing and complaint. The following statement is therefore desirable:
 The forese-reserve policy can be suc- cessful only when it has the full sup port of the people of the west. It can not safely and should not in any case, be imposed upon them against their will. But neither can we accept the views of those whose only interest in the forest is temporary; who are anx- ious to reap what they have not sown anc then move away, leaving desola- i0.a 10 ind fl haT, Tlf, fI,. ,4--.,,-x is everywhere and always the interet of the Der1nanent settler and the per nlInent business man, the man with q stake in the country, which must be considered and which must decide.
 The making of forest reserves within railroad and wagon road land grants will hereafter, as for the past three years, be so managed as to prevent the issue. under the act of June 1, 1897, of base for exchange or lieu selection (usunlly called scrip). In all cases where forest - reserves within areas covered by land grants appear to be essential to the prosperity of settlers, miners, or others, the government lands within such proposed forest re- serves wills as in the recent past, be withdrawn from sale or entry pending the completion of such negotiations with the owners of the land grants as will prevent the creation of so- called scrip.
 It was formerly the custom to make forest reserves without first getting definite and detailed information as to the character of land and timber with in their boundaries. This method of action often resulted in badly chosen boundacie3 and consequent injustice to settlers and others. Therefore this administration adopted the present method of first withdraw the land from disposal, followed by careful ex- animation on the ground tnd the prep aration of detailed maps and descrip- tions, before any forest reserve is ere a4ed.
 have repeatedly called attention to the confusion which exists in govern ment forest matters because the work is scattered among three independent organizations. The United States is the only ore of the great nations in which forest work of the government is not concentrated under one depart ment, in consonance with the plainest dictates of good administration and common sense. The present arrange ment is bad from every point of view. Merely to mention it is to prove that IL SliOQlQ De kSIHllIldleQ dl OElCe- AS have repeatedly recomm ended, all the forest work of the government should be concentrated in the department of agriculture, where the larger part of that work is already done, wnere prac- tically all of the trained foresters of the government are employed, where chiefly in Washington there is compre- henSiYe first-hand knowledge of the problems of the reserves acquired on the ground, where all problems relating to growth from the soil are already gathered, and where all the sciences auxiliary to foresty are at hand for prompt and effective cooperation. These reasons ars decisive in themselves, but it should be added that the great or ganizations of citizens whose inter ests are affected by the forest reserves, such as the National Live Stock asso- citation, the National Wool Growers association, the American mining con- gress, the national irrigation congress, and the national board of trade, have uniformly. eInphatically, and most of them repeatedly, expressed themselves in favor Of placing all government forest work in the department of agriculture because of the peculiar adaptation of that department for it. It is true, also, that the forest services of nearly all the great nadons6 of the world are under the respective departments of agriculture, While in but two of the smaller nations and in one colony are they under the department of the in terior. This is the result of long and varied experience and it agrees fully with the requirements of good adminis- tration in orr own case.
 The creation of la forest service in the department of agriculture will have for it's important results:
 FirSt--A better. handling of all forest work, because it will be under a single head, and because the vast and in experience of the depart ment in all matters pertaining to the forest reserves, to the foresty in gen. eral, and to other forms of production from the soil, will be easily and rapidly accessible.
 Second.-The reserves themselves, 1 JI-.1