The Glenwood post. (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) 1897-current, 1906-07-14

Too much information can not be
published in regard to the Forest SER
vice, for hardly a day passes that
Supervisor Hustled is not called upon to
answer queries from our farmers and
cattle raisers over the Holy Cross re-
serve. Therefore the Post reproduces
in full the article on "History and
Objects of Forest Reserves which has
just come out in the new "Use Book >
for the forest service. 1t will be in
teresting reading as we'll as giving
some valuable information to those
coming under the jurisdiction of forest
laws, as we'll as to most positively
show the forest service is absolutely
for the welfare of the public at large
and not for the benefit of the United
States government, as has been con
tended by several newspaper men over
the state who thought they saw the
to "sharpen their own
axe The article follows.
Forest reserves are for the purpose
of preserving perpetual supply of
timber for home industries, preventing
destruction of the forest cover which
regulates the flow of streams, and pro-
tecting local residents from unfair
competition in the use of forest and
range. They are patrolled. and pro.
tected at government expense for the
benefit of the community and the home
builder.
We know that the welfare of every
community is dependent upon cheap
and plentiful supply of timber; that
a forest cover is the most effective
means of maintaining regular stream
flow for irrigation and other useful
purposes, and that the permaneDce of
the livestock industry depends upon
the conservative use of the range. The
injury to all persons and industries
which results from the destruction of
forests by fire and careless use is a
matter of history in older countries,
and has long been the cause of anxiety
and loss in the United States. The
protection of the forest resources still
existing is matter of urgent local
and national Importance. This is
shown by the exhaustion of numbering
centers, often leaving behind desola-
ton and depression in business; the
vast public and private losses through
unnecessary forest fires; the increasing
use of lumber per capita by a still
more rapidly increasing population :;
the decrease in the summer flow of
streams just rs they become indispen-
sable to manufacture or irrigation ;
and the serious decrease in the carry
ing capacity of the summer range. 1t
can not be doubted that, as President
Roosevelt has said, 'the problem is
in many ways the most vital internal
problem of the United States
AS early as 1893 congress provided
for the purchase of timberlands to sup
ply the needs of the navy, and in 1917
further legislation directed the setting
apart of public lands for the same pur-
pose. and provided penalties for the
unauthorized cutting of any public
timber. Other acts, from time to time,
made similar provisions for setting
apart forest land for specific purposes.
but the first attempt to secure a com
prehensive administration of the
forests on the public domain was in
1871, by bill introduced in the Forty
second Congress, which failed of pass
age.
In 1876, $2. 900 was appropriated to
employ competent man to investi
gate timber conditions in the
United States. and on June 30, 1885.
an act was approved creating a Di'
vision of Forestry in the Department
Of Agriculture. On July 1. 1901, this
division became the Bureau of Fores
try, now the Forest Service, since the
act Of March 3. 1909, employing
practically all the trained foresters In
the United States, and engaged in al
most every branch Of forest work In
every state and territory except the
actual administration of the govern.
ment forest lands. This remained ir
the Department Of the Interior, which,
although possessing complete ma
chinery for the disposal Of lands. wal
provided with neither system mol