The Daily Missoulian., 1909-01-16
Agricultural Lands.

7, the creation of the national lor-
ests some small isolated areas Oh ae-
ricultural lands were unaVoiuaoly "
cluded In order to encourage set'"
nent on these areas, the act Oh june
H. 1906 was passed which allows en-
trv under the homestead law after the
land is classified as chiefly Vaiuapie
for agricultural purposes. IL Is lie
object of the government to De as
liberal in the Interpretation OF lhiS
act as possible but. it must always
he borne in mind that the nauoilal
forests were created primarily 1or the
| n,rnose of raising timber, and, before
| +;t,a masses out of the hand of the
government, the greater value OF the
land for purchase other than forest
use must be clearly shown
In order to guard against adverse
| claims being patented or new claims
initiated in order to secure title to the
timber examinations are made OF all
| claims entered prior to the creation
of the forest to insure compliance
with the law, and restrictions are
| n,ocad IN the class of claims which
can he initiated in the national forest
laws ana forest homestead act of June
II. 1906, can be entered on land lhsiue
of a national forest. Realizing that II
would greatly hamper the deVeiopmeht
of the mineral resources OF the coui-
try to place any restriction on pros
Meeting and mining, this work Is no"
carried on in the national forests pre-
cisely as 1t is on the public land out
| side of the forests. 1t Is the OBJECT OF
the government to encourage legiu-
l mate mining development and at the
, same time insure a continuous supply
of timber to meet all needs.
When measuring the final results ac-
S | complished, there Is factor Whlch oe-
$ termines more than any one rhng,
Q success of failure. This is the danger
s from fire. To protect the national for
n ests from fire a patrol is established
Y during the dry season. The result OF
!, patrol work, however, cannot be fuily
y effective unless the areas are at least
G partly accessible and can be reacheo
Il when fire Is discovered. The most i'm
s portant work of the forest service Is
: to protect the timber of the natlona
II forests from fire. Tho accomplish this
h roads. trails and telephone lines are
e being built in order to make the areas
IS accessible and to insure quick com
II munication when fire occurs. Warn
Ii ings to campers, hunters, etc, agains
rs leaving fires unextinguished are posted
If conspicuously along trails and a
d camping places The government re
ID quires those enjoying benefits in tn
re form of permits for the use of the re
| to c
l. sist in fighting fires. The forest Off
I'd Ger on the ground is authorized to hir
I'd assistance and use all reasonabl
ic means to extinguish any fire.
Another phase of the forest polio
ed of the government is the study of tn
nt best methods of using timber of dif
ne ferent species. In order to do this
s. is necessary to know the mechanical
ne neurological and chemical character
of istics of the different species of woods
be | This class of work is vital to the ei
he fective working out of any forest po
p ICY 1t is necessary to know Wha
in relatively abundant and ineXpensiv
al woods can be substituted for thos
an more scarce and valuable. 1t is reaC
re lily appreciated that if the life of tin
ut Der can be prolonged through treat
tn. ment with preservatives, it relieves tt
ng drain on the forests. Only by secu
n ing this information can the supply
special products from the forests, sue
he as turpentine, tannin, etc, be maC
all permanent resource. These example
its briefly show the Importance of tn
ist line of work, but are sufficient to III
ri press the necessity of considering &
in careful use If the timber supply is
ny be conserved.
ste Finally, in order to put this wo
Try into effect it is the purpose of t
a government to secure men in the n
ia tonal forest work. who, by their pra
ticaI and scientific training, will
md able to carry the work to the highe