Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-12-10

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settlement under the reclamation act.
Indeed they are essential to the well
fare OF every one Of the great interests
of the west
Forest reserves are created for two
principal purposes. The first is to pre-
serve the water supply. This is their
most important use. The principal
users of the water thus preserved are
irrigation ranchers and settlers, cities
and towns to whom their municipal
water supplies are Of the very first I'm
portance, users and furnishers of wa
ter power and the users of water for
domestic, manufacturing, mining and
other purposes. All these are directly
dependent upon the forest reserves.
The second reason for which forest
reserves are created is to preserve the
timber supply for various classes of
wood users. Among the more impor-
tant Of these are settlers under the
reclamation act and other acts, for
whom cheap and accessible supply
of timber for domestic uses is absolute
ly necessary; miners and prospectors,
who are In serious danger of losing
, their timber supply by fire or through
export by lumber companies when tim
Der lands adjacent to their mines pass
; into private ownership; lumbermen.
transportation companies, builders and
, commercial interests In general.
Although the wisdom Of creating for
est reserves is nearly everywhere
heartily recognized, yet In few locali-
ties there has been misunderstanding
and complaint The following state
ment is therefore desirable:
The forest reserve policy can be sue.
cessful only when 1t has the full sup
port Of the people Of the west. 1t 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 i'm
the forest is temporary, who are anx-
ious to reap what they have not sown
and then move away, leaving desola-
ton behind them. On the contrary, it
Is everywhere and always the interest
OF the permanent settler and the per-
manent business man, the man with
stake In the country, which must be
considered and which must decide.
The making Of forest reserves within
railroad and wagon road land grant
limits will hereafter, as for the past
three years, be SO managed as to pre-
vent the issue under the act Of June 4.
1897, Of base for exchange or lieu Sc
lection Casually called scrip. In all
cases where forest reserves within
areas covered by land grants appear to
be essential to the prosperity Of set
tiers, miners or others the government
lands within such proposed forest re-
serves will, 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.
1t 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. reg,s,*ss IA. 'vs1iy chosen
boundaries and consequent injustice to
settlers and others. Therefore this adj
ministration adopted the present meth
od OF first Withdrawing the land from
disposal. followed by careful examina-
uon on the ground and the preparation
OF detailed maps and descriptions. be-
fore any forest reserve is created.
have repeatedly called attention TO
the confusion which exists I'm govern
ment forest matters because the work
Is scattered among three independent
organizations. The United States Is the
only one OF the great nations in which
the forest work Of the government Is
not concentrated under one department
In consonance with the plainest die
tates OF gooG administration and COM
mon sense. The present arrangement
Is bad from every point OF view. Merely
to mention 1t is to prove that 1t should
be terminated at once. AS have re-
peatedly recommended, all the forest
work OF the government should be con-
contracted In the department OF agricuI-
ture, where the larger part of that
work Is already done, where practical
~ all OF the trained foresters OF the
government are employed, where chief
ly In Washington there is comprehen-
sive first hand knowledge of the prob
lens of the reserves acquired on the
ground. where all problems relating to
SAON al AiOAh lAiC SUI are GNIn-
cred and where all the sciences auxil-
larry TO forestry are at hand for prompt
and effective cooperation. These rea-
sons are decisive in themselves, but 1t
should be added that the great organi-
cations of citizens whose interests are
Affected by the forest reserves, such as
the National Live Stock association,
the National Wool Growers associa-
ton, the American Mining congress,
the National Irrigation congress and
the National Board of Trade, have uni
formly. emphatically and most of them
repeatedly expressed themselves in ia
vor of. placing all government forest
work In the department OF agriculture
because Of the peculiar adaptation of
that department for it 1t Is true also
that the forest services Of nearly all
the great nations of the world are I'M
der the respective departments of ag-
riculture, while in but two of the