The Hattiesburg news., 1915-02-17
GOVERNMENT USES Of
NATIONAL FORESTS
WHAT is BEING DONE TO MAKE
RESERVE PAY.

and supervising the cutting on several
thousand different areas, overseeing
the grazing of more than 100000 cat
tie and 100000 sheep, and building
more than 600 miles of road, 1000
miles of trail, 5000 miles of telephone
line, and 700 miles of fire line are
some of the things which the govern
ment forest service did last year, as
disclosed in the report by the chief
forester for 1914. These activities |
we're all on the national forests, which |
at present total about 1S5.OO0,0o
acres.
There Is need, say the chief forester. !
to increase the cut of timber from the |
national forests wherever fair price
can be obtained for the stumpage, be-
cause great deal of 1t is mature and
ought to be taken out to make room
for young growth. Unfavorable con
ditions in the lumber trade caused
new sales of national forest timber to
Idll OIL SOlnSWndl lHS lhC pdoS ySoib
though the operations on outstanding
sales contracts brought the total cut
above that of the previous year by
1870, 900, 900 board feet There was, how
ever, big increase in small timber
sales, these numbering s,29S in 1914
against 6,1S2 the previous year. Desir-
, able blocks of national forest timber
have been appraised and put on the
market, and 1t is expected that these
will find purchasers when conditions
in the lumber industry improve. All
told, the government received 81, ,3O4,-
| O53.36 from the sale of timber on the
forests in 1914. The receipts from all
sources totaled $2,437, ,710.21.
| After eight years Of experience
stockmen are well satisfied. says the
chief forester, with the way the graz
ing of live stock on the forests Is reg
ulated, and have even urged upon con
gress the application Of the same
method of control to the unreserved
public range. Almost $4,000 permit
tees Craze stock on the national for
ests, and these paid to the government
in the fiscal year 1914 fees amounting
to over a million dollars. The present
tendency to raise fewer sheep and
goats and more cattle and horses is
shown in the fact that the number OF
cattle and horse permittees on the
western forests increased last year by
1879, while the number of sheep and
goat permittees fell off by total OF
26S. The western stock business, the
forester points out, is becoming at
tached to the soil, and the itinerant
sheep grower and the speculator in
cattle are giving place to the perma'
nent resident and owner of improved
ranch property. The latter is always
given preference in the use of national
forest range.
Some 100000 was spent by the for
est service during the year for perma
nent improvements on the national
forests to make them accessible anC
to insure their protection from lire
These improvements include go mile,
of new road, 2,153 miles of trail, 3,O6;
miles Of telephone line, 775 miles o
p fire line, and 1OG lookout structures
besides bridges, corrals, fences, an(
cabins. In addition, 642 miles of roat
were built for the public by the use o
10 per cent of the national forest re
ceipts, as authorized by congress.
Under another law, 20 per cent o
=, the national forest receipts for tn
year, amounting to $3.50, 6,593.39, wer
paid over to the various states Il
which the forests lie for the benefit O
county schools and roads.
Since 1909, when systematic class
fication of national forest lands wa
begun, more than 10000 acres hav
d been eliminated. Scattered interio
II tracts which it is not practical to elm
4. mate are opened to settlement throug
l. listing, which allows them to be take
It I'D under the forest homestead Law
d Any one may apply to have land will
a. in a forest examined to determin
whether 1t is best suited for agricu
ture, and if found so it is opened
settlement under this law. During tn
year $3.50 tracts, totaling 282,4e
acres, applied for by individuals, wei
:, opened for entry. BY elimination an
" listing, the percentage of unpatente
agricultural land within the nation;
forests, never large, has been reduce
to very small amount.