The Mena weekly star., 1907-05-23

Little Rock, May l9'-- l he lant
 ofice in Little Rock has received
 offciaI notice from the Depart
 ,,ert of the Interior at Washing x nm to the effect tn at certain
 territory under the jurisdiction of
 he local department had been
 Converted into a national reserve,
 The same communication was
 rsceived at the Camden and E nardanelle offices. In the order $ inc land officials are instructed tc
 w;tbdraw the reserve land from
 entry, except for the purpose oi $ filing mineral claims.
 Atoge her there are about # 5OO. GOO acres in the proposed re.
 serve. 25,000 are in Perry and # Saline counties, in the Little & Rock district; 35O, 900 acres in # Perry. Saline, Yell and Scott # counties, in the Dardanelle dis & trict. and about 135, ,000 acres in # Garland and Montgomery coun- # ties, in the Camden district.
 # Altogether. there are in Perry VI county about 125, 900 acres in the & southeast corner, and in that & portion of the county outside the \ inrisdlction of the Little Rock E office. In the northwest part of # Saline county there are 50, 900 acres, three quarters of 1t in the Dardanelle district; in tue south eas. portion of Yell county 100, : OO0 acres have been laid aside. and in Seott75, 900 acres. In the Camden district there are 20, 900 acres ofIeserve land, 85, 000ln the northwest portion of Garland and 35.000 acres in the north central portion of Montgomery country. According to the procedure of the land office, the reserve is stricken from the list of lands open for entry and only mineral claims can De filed on the reserve. At present there are some home steads in the reserve, but the reserve act has no effect upon them, except that they cannot buy any of the land adjoining their property. According to the last report of the Arkansas land offices, there were in this state l,S00, GOO acres acres. When the next report is made in July the number will be decreased to less than 100, 900 acres open to settle meut.
 The land laid off for the re- serve is all mountainous country, covered with pine and other valu- able timbers Most of the acre age is untouched by railroads and if IS for this reason that 1t has been so long in the possession of the government.
 Although the withdrawal of lands for proposed national forests is made by the secretary ot the interior, the national forests, when once created are under the jurisdiction of the secretary of agriculture, who ad- ministers them through the bureau of his department called the Forest Service, of which Gif- ford Piuchot Is chief forester. The lands first are withdrawn, then examination is made by ex perts to ascertain whether they gre best Suited for national forests, aud such as are found to be of that character are retained aud the forest is formerly de- elared 10 be permanent.
 Under the revised rules and practice of the bureau all possible privileges are granted to the people in the national forest. All fallen timber is cleared away; such as IS good for lumber, posts or poles IS sold at a reasonable hgure, roads are constructed of substantial character, telephone lines are built, to which the pub ne nas access, grazing acres are leased at low prices, only the larger tree are cut and these are sold to bidders who desire to make them into lumber. An effort is made 10 afford every facility to the people ip the forest reserves while at the same time preserving the standing timber after the methods which have been in vogue in Germany, France and Switzerland for five hundrt d years. In this, as in all other instances, all lands which on ex- animation are shown to ha letter suited for agricultural purposes VIII be restored to thes pubic domain.
 Washington, May 20. - Forestry Bureau officials are anxious that tue people of Arkansas will not iorm opinions of the forest ser wee rom wrong ideas, now that lndt StatP fc tp baua a uatfou |