The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-04

.. -----z- could not have been finished in so Short time. But the work has been carried forward with energy and intelligence. and enough has been done to show how our forest policy is working out. | The result of first importance to you as irrigators is this: The forest ser- Vice has proved that forest fires can be controlled, by controlling them. On ly one-tenth of one per cent of the area of the forest reserves was burned over in 1905. The achievement was due both to the forest service and to the effective assistance of settlers and others in and near the reserves EY- erythihg the government has ever spent upon it's forest work is small price to pay for the knowledge that the streams which make your pros- perity can be and are being freed from the ever-present threat of forest fires. 1 The long, standing and formerly bit ter differences between the stockmen and the forest officers are nearly all settled. Those which remain are in process of settlement. Hearty cooper ation exists almost everywhere between the officers of the forest service and the local associations of stockmen, who are appointing advisory committees which are systematically consulted by the forest service on all questions in which they are concerned. This most satisfactory condition of mutual help will be welcome to you as 1t Is to the administration and to the stockmen, To the stockmen 1t means more, and more certain, grass; to you, because of the better protection and wiser use of the range, it means steadier strean- How, and more water.
 The sales of forest reserve timber to settlers, miners and lumbermen, and other uses are increasing very rapidly and in that way also the reserves are successfully meeting 8 growing need.
 Lands in the forest reserves that are lmore valuable for agricultural than for forest purposes are being opened to settlement and entry as fast as their agricultural character can be ascer- tained. There is therefore no longer excuse for saying that the reserves re- tard the legitimate settlement and de- Ivelopment of the country. On the con- trary, they promote and sustain that development, and they will do so in no way more powerfully than through their distinct contributions to the schools and roads. Ten per cent. of all tho money received from the forest re- serves goes to the states for the use of the counties in which the reserves lie, to be used for schools and roads, The amount of this contribution is nearly S70,O00 for the first year. It will grow steadily larger and will form a certain and permanent source of income, which would not have been the case with the taxes whose place it takes.
 Finally, a body of intelligent, practic- al, well-trained citizens of the west is being built up-men Ia whose hands the public interests, including your own, arc and will be safe.
 All these results are good; but they have not been achieved by the for est service alone. On the contrary, they represent also the needs and sug- gestions of the people of the whole west. They embody constant changes land adjustments to meet these sugges- tions and needs. The forest policy of the government in the west has now become what the west desired 1t to be. It Is national policy-wider than the boundaries of any state, and larger than the interest of any single indus try. Of course it cannot give any set of men exactly what they would choose. Undoubtedly the irrigator would often like to have less stock on his water sheds, while the stockman wants more, The lumberman would like to cut more timber, the settler and the miner would often like him to cut less. The county authorities want to see more money coming in for schools and roads, while the lumbermen and stookmen object to the rise in value of timber and grass. But the interests of the people as a whole are, repeat, safe In the hands of the forest service.
 By keeping the public forests in the public hands our forest policy substi- tulSS LllS BOuu or lil6 WnOle people TOT the profits of the privileged few. With that result none will quarrel except the men who are losing the chance of per sonal profit at the public expense,
 Our western forest policy is based on meeting the wishes of the best public sentiment of the whole west. It pro- poses to create new reserves wherever forest lands still vacant are found in the public domain, and to give the re- serves already made the highest possi- ble usefulness to all the people. So far our promises to the people in re- gard to it have all been made good; and I have faith that this policy will be carried to successful completion. because I believe that the people of the West are behind it.
 Sincerely yours,
 (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt
 Following the reading of the presi- dents letter Vice President Fairbanks 6nlIxyhroI od