Weekly journal-miner., 1913-12-31
THE WORK DONE BY
 THE FOREST SERVICE

More than two bIllicU board feet oi timber. with a value oi four and onc-hali million dollars on the stump. was sold by the forest scry- ice last year. according to the an uual report of Henry $. Graves, forester. published today. This is an increase oi l67 per cent over the sales oi the preceding year. The timber sold was largely for future cutting under contracts that will run for number of years. The actual cut was less than five hundred mil lion board feet, an increase of !5 per cent over 1912. Still larger sales are in prospect
 Timber Sale Methods and Problems.
 The timber sale policy of the for est service is summarized as aim ing first of all to prevent losses by fire. and secondly to utilize the ripe timber which can be marketed. 9th CT aims are: To cut so as to in sure restocking and forest permq- ncncc; to get the full market value for the timber sold; to prevent spec ulativc acquisition and private mo nopoly of public timber and to main tain competitive conditions in the lumber industry so far as possible; to provide first for inc needs of local communities and industries: {: to open lands oi agricultural value to settlement without allowing them to be tied up by timber specu- lators; and finally to secure as soon as possible the cost of production and administration 10 the govern mcnt and revenue to the national forest states. to which go twenty five per cent of all receipts
 \ large number of national for csts already more than pay operat- ing expenses The revenue from the Alaskan forests now exceeds the cost of administration. The same lN true generally m the southwest.
 Game Protection.
 In connection with the grazing work. the forests serve to prote,; game. and the Wichita forest, wit its buffalo herd. is one of the show places of Oklahoma During the year the service co-opcratcd wi.h the biological survey in placing oyer two hundred eli, on various Iation- al forests. \ large number oi streams were stocked with trom fry.
 Mining Claims.
 The mining laws" AIr. Graves says afford the greatest cloak for land frauds in the national forests and fraudulent mining claims are initiated by men and interests hay ing no connection whatever with tho mining industrN2 The mining laws. for example, have been used to cover townSite and timber claim, to secure farms and ranches, tc secure mineral springs. sites for sa looms. water power sites and stock watering places.
 l. has often been asserted tha, the national forests have operated a, a. bar to legitimate mining de velopment. Figures collected in Colorado during the past year show that, ii anything, there is more activ- fly in prospecting on the national forests than outside
 As with the stock industry, the proper relations of the forest serv- ice with the mining industry should be cooperative"
 Classifying Lands for Use.
 One oi the largest tasks of the service during the past year Ina. been the classification oi lands l within the national forests in re ,pcct to their highest future use This work was undertaken during 1913 on a more comprehensive scale | than ever before, because there wa. ! specific appropriation for the pur- pose. Large areas are being classi | ied where the amount of land chief , y valuable for agriculture warrants Is being taken ont of the forest, md it also takes care of areas os which detailed classification will dis lose small areas suitable for agri- ultural development within the for sts. The work is being carried or with the assistance of the hurear 'f soils and the bureau of plant industry. One result of this work ,as the elimination oi 540,O00 acres rom the Nebraska national forest, 3.00O acres from the Rainier, in and 4l3,77O acres from he Dcschutes and Paulina, in Ore on. About 3O0.OO0 acres i'll smaT