Cañon City record., 1909-05-20
PLAN.ExAMINATION
OF NATIONAL FOREST
BOUNDARIES

Denver. May 14.-Through the es-
tablishment of six district headQuar-
ters in the West. the work of the For
est Service has advanced so far that
1t is now possible to undertake a thor
ough-going examination OF National
Forest boundaries and an inquiry into
the character Of any interior areas
which may appear to be not suitable
for National Forest purposes. In a
letter to the District Forester in this
city. Forester Pinchot says:
plans formulated here last winter
and approved by the Secretary Of Ag-
riculture call for a systematic and
complete going over of all National
Forest boundaries during the present
field season. The work which you
have been constantly doing in this
direction is along the right lines, but
the plan adopted calls for more con-
certed effort in this work throughout
the Service during the coming sum-
mer- With the field force at your
NoAAAAAAo oHN sOui SAooS Aho"lSo6S
of local conditions and of the National
Forest officers. you can SO organize
this effort in your district as to in
sure q thorough going over of your
part of the so 900 miles of National
Forest boundaries by competent men.
whose reports as to the character
of the land within and without the
Forests and whose recommendations
as to lands which should be excluded
or included. checked by the informa-
ton already possessed by the Forrest
Service. can b relied on.
To do this work in one summer
will make severe demands on you. but
1t 10 not beyond the capacity of the
service. - now organised.
Please give it your best efforts
until ths work 10 completed. and bear
In mind especially that the quality
Of the work must be animpeachable.
This work sAosld be completsd by
the close Of the present asld season
and each District Forester should At
that time - able 10 vosoA for Tie
correctness of tie proposed soandsr-
are changes recommended BY sxAm-
insrs which yos feel are questionable.
such cases may 20 over for checking
until the asxt neld season. in order
that no mistakes may be made. Pos
sible conditions should be noted a.
carefully In the six states where con-
gressional action 10 necessary to Gre
ate additions to forests As elsewhere.
AS you know. the policy of the
Service has always been to exclude
from the boundaries OF the National
Forest all agricultural land. except.
as Congress clearly intended, areas
so small that they could be handled
more acceptably under the act of June
IL. 1906. We want all the land put
to its best use. whatever that use
may be. A good deal Of time and
money has been spent on the Service
in this most Important work. I be-
lieve. however. that there Is still land
which would serve the public inter
est best outside of National Forests
and which could therefore be ex-
cluded to the public advantage.
believe. too. that adjoining many Of
the Forests are areas which. because
of the value Of the timber they sup
port. their Importance under q proper
forest cover for watershed protection,
or because the best public use of the
existing Forest can be brought about
only through their inclusion. should
be added to the National Forests.
I'm Considering changes Of bound
cry. the character OF the land and Its
future usefulness for forest agricul-
tural purposes. the protection that 1t
may give to the watersheds at the
head Of streams from which towns.
cities. and irrigation projects draw
their supply. areas which need refor-
estation, and areas which should be
included mon the standpoint OF the
public welfare generally. should all
be carefully considered. Whenever .
change Of ho1ndery 10 recommended
the reason tnr Il should Be plainly
shown. WAeA ne proper bounAssy u