The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1915-05-15
SECRETARY HOUSTON IN
SPECTS NATIONAL FORESTS
Is in the West to Find out for Him
self How Public Resources Are
Being Developed.

Being Developed.
Washington, May 13.-Secretary OF
Agriculture Houston has begun an ex-
~tensive tour of the national forests
to find out for himself to what extent
their timber, forage, water power, rec
reational and agricultural resources
are being developed for the public I'M
der present methods and to make a
study of the administrative problems
of the forest service. During May he
will visit the forests in several of the
western states, spending almost the
entire time of his trip in the wilds,
seeking first-hand impressions of the
conditions under which the forest SER
vice works.
Conditions during the spring and
summer are likely to be unusually ar
duous, according to forest service Off
Gals, in that a dangerous fire season
is indicated for many of the forests by
the abnormally slight precipitation OF
the winter. Unless the deficiency is
made up, the forests will be dry and
i~nfammable earlier in the season
than usual and the water supply of
many extensive regions will be low.
Numerous irrigation, reservoir, and
power projects are wholly or in part
dependent on national forest protec-
ton of watersheds, and it is begin
ming to be generally understood that,
aside from actual farming on national
forest land, the agricultural interests
of the west are much concerned in the
conservation of water supplies accom-
plished by the forest service through
lessened fire damage and regulated
grazing. In southern California the
interest in maintaining a forest GOV
er on the mountains from which local
water supplies are derived is so keen
that for a number of years local funds
have been raised and paid over to the
department of agriculture in order to
provide for more intensive protection
than the federal appropriations make
possible.
Under the methods employed in
handling the livestock grazing busin-
ess of the national forests, agricul-
tural development is benefited not on
ly through the prevention of injury to
watersheds but also through the op-
portunities opened for ranch develop
ment. AS new settlers locate near
the forests room is made for their
stock by cutting down, if necessary,
the number of stock allowed the larger
permittees. More than 100000 900
cattle, sheep, and hogs, including
young stock, will find forage this
year on the national forests. The
revenue from this source is expected
to exceed S1,200,000 in 1915.
One of the difficult administrative
problems, now being rapidly worked
out, is that of agricultural develop
ment of lands more valuable for farm
than for forest purposes. Extensive
land classification has been made pos
sible by a special appropriation of
Congress for this purpose, renewed
each year since 1912. Up to date,
about 10000 agricultural homesteads
have been listed within the national
forests, opening to agricultural devel-
opment nearly LOO, 900 acres of for
est land. In addition, a certain am
cunt of agricultural development is
provided for under special use per-
mits, where for any special eason
listing does not afford a practicable
means of meeting settlers needs.
More than $4,000 special use per-
mits of all kinds have been issued to
the public since 1905, granting free
or for a reasonable charge permission
to conduct all sorts of enterprises on
national forest land. They include
apiaries, barns, boat houses, botanical
gardens, cemeteries, churches, cot
tages, golf links, hotels, mines, miner
al springs, observatories, orchards,
quarries, railroads, ranches, resi-
restaurants, rifle ranges,
roads, sanitariums, sawmills, slaught-
er houses, telegraph and telephone
lines, tennis courts, tramways, tunnels,
water power plants, wells, weirs, and
wharves. The total income from spe-
cial use permits in 1914 was over
sS131,000.
Farmers, prospectors, and local set
tiers of all classes, who needed tim
Der for their own use in the con-
struction of houses, barns, fences, and
the like, were given free more than
120, 000, 900 feet of national forest
timber during 1914, while about a.
i000,0 900 feet was sold to settlers,
ranchers, and others at cost prices.
The timber sale business of the nation
al forests amounts to about $780,
900 annually, more than 1,500,000,0O
board feet of stumpage having been
sold to lumber operators last year.
The forests contain most of the pic
turesque wilderness in the country,
and their recreational are
practically unlimited. More than o.
900 cottages have been built on the
forests by summer residents under
the permit system, which has been
supplemented by a law providing that
tracts of five acres or less may be
leased for periods not to exceed thirty
years. This law, under which leasing
regulations have just been promulgat-
ed by the secretary of agriculture, is
expected to stimulate recreational de-
velopment of the forests. Already a
large number of applications to lease
national forest land for summer resi-
dence sites has been received, and even
communities are beginning to take adj
vantage of the forests situated near
them by obtaining tracts for use as
picnic, camping, and Fairgrounds.