The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-02
The Fourth National Bank.

All dead timber Is for sale. The cut ting of this timber is done under the local supervision of the Forest Ser vice and in accordance with certain clearly defined and practical rules.
 Speculation Prevented.
 The restrictions governing the timber sales, while effective, are simple Ap- plication Is made to the local officer in charge of the reserve from which the timber Is desired, who executes small sales on the ground. In case of large sales. the application is forwarded to the Forest Service. from which the ad- vertisement of the sale Is made. Ap- plicaants for timber are required to send sealed bids to the Forest Service. Small bidders enjoy exactly equal op- portunities with large. and monopoli- zation is effectually forestalled. The highest bid fixes the price. Should the first applicant desire to begin cutting immediately he may (except in Cali formal do so on condition that he pay In advance at a price already fixed by the Forest Service. and that he obligate himself to pay the full amount named in the highest bid Thus delay is avoided and the Government Is pro- tected. Speculation in reserve timber Is made impossible by the provision that the timber must be removed with In a specified time. and that when a contract extendse over several years a propartionate amount of timber must he remsved each year. Five years Is the extreme limit of a sales contract
 That these restrictions arc not oner- ous Is shown by the numerous sales made under them single sale of 5o.000.o00 feet of lodgepole pine for railroad ties Is pending on the Montana Diision of the Yellowstone Forest Re- serve. It is estimated that 165,000,0O0 feet B. M. of lodgepole pine can be taken from one watershed In the Medf- cine Bow Forest Reserve, still leaving a large percentage for future crops. Much timber Is sold in small lots; fifty applications for such sales are made to each single application for 1000. .000 board feet or more; the prompt busi- nesslike consideration accorded such applications standing in marked con- trast with the slow methods once pre- vailing, whe.. all applications had to be made through Washington.
 Forest As Revenue.
 During the year 1905 the sales of tim her from the National reserves were as follows:
 The largest sales so far made are 71.466,537 board feet from South Da- kotas 6S,255.s16 from Wyoming; and 5,327,443 from Utah.
 In sales of wood for fuel South Dalo- ta led with 29.s44 1-2 cordsfi Arizonia followed with 16,64s: and Colorado with 1o,795 1-2. The total number of cords sold was 74,120.
 In sales of posts and poles Montana led with 119.500. followed by Wyoming with 39.750. an dColorado with 139SS. The total number sold was 1S8,740.
 The largest timber sales were made in Wyoming, where they reached $145,- S91.s1. South Dakota's sales ranked second in value. amounting to $7S,- 95S.24, and Colorado's to $23,9S7.07. The total sales for 1905 reached $273,659, S2.
 Nor are the receipts from these sales swallowed up by the cost of administra tion The entire property of the forest reserves. worth $25O.000.o00 in cash, is now being administered at a cost of less than one-third of 1 per cent of it's value, while increase in that value of not less than 10 per cent year is talk ing place. As the use of the reserves increases, the cost of administration must, of course. increase also. but re- ceipts will certainly increase much more rapidly. The time Is not far dis tant when the forest reserves will be- come self-sustaining: Later. they may confidently be expected to become source of public revenue