Las Vegas daily optic., 1907-03-27
FOREST RESTORED
TO PUBLIC DOMAIN
First Instance in Which Reserve
Has Ever Been pisestabilshed.

The president, on March lG. signed
a proclamation by which the foF-
tales national forest Is restored -
the public domain. This Is the first
instance In which one Of the national
forests, formerly called forest re
serves, has been disestablished. In
the case of the Portales. the term
national forest Ii something OF mis-
nOmer. since the entire area Is prac'
tically treeiess. 1t Is located in the
extreme east central portion Of New
Mexico, its eastern boundary being
the Texas Inc This socalied nat
/ iOnal forest had an area OF l12.oso
acres, and was established October
| ;. 1905, as an experiment by the for
est service for the following pu:-
poses;
| As an object lesson in tree
planting for the trecless region SUI
rounding this reserve.
To supply the country tmme'
diately tributary with timber for fu"I
aud fencing.
) To create wind'break which
should protect from excessive evap'
Grafton the adjacent agricultural
lands.
Owing to lack of funds. but little
progress was made along the abo''
lines. The building Of new railroads
will In the near future open up thI'
region to such an extent that timbe'
supplies can be brought In from tht
outside more cheaply than they ca:
be produced locally. The region i
principally one of sandhills, bu
there Is land In the basins and draw.
which 1t Is claimed will produce
agricultural crops under the Camn
bell system Of dry farming. TheS'
lands are of recognized suitability fo
forest planting: they have Away
heretofore produced grass for th'
support of range cattle: it ID nov
claimed. in view of recent expert
ments, that they are suitable TO
agriculture under improved method
OF soilculaure, There are thus thre'
possible uses for this land. forest
planting, range, and agriculture. an,
to use 1t for either one precludes tn,
possibility Of its use for the othe
two. Many applications have recent
ly been made for the listing of thes
lands under the agricultural homo
stead act.passcd June II. 1906. whicl
provides for the homesteading a
agricultural lands in the national for
ests.
The forest service was thus con
fronted with a three horned dilem
II, these lands. formerly not consid
cred agricultural in character. woul
defeat the sole object for which tn
reserve was originally created. TIL
forester, however, did not hesitate
but considering agriculture as
higher use of the land than eithe
forest planting or the grazing o
stock, he recommended to the sccre
tary of agriculture that the cntir
area be restored to the public do
main and opened to settlement an,
secretary of the interior acquiesce,
and favorable action was taken ac
cordinely.
The case of the Portalcs is entire
ly different from that of other nat
iunAl forests in the western states
where this area reserved Is chief,
mountainous and unfit for agricult ar
al purposes. even were the timbe
removed. In those states. the great
est opposition to the policy of tn,
president with respect to the contro
of the governments timber lands ha
come from men who were anxious t,
see these lands opened to entry. no
that they might be farmed, but tha
they might become subject to entr,
under the timber and stone law
whereby men were frequently able t.
buy for $500 quarter-section of tim
ber land worth several thousand dol
lars in the open market. As a gen