Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1922-02-04
IN WHAT DEPARTMENP DOES
THE FOREST SERVICE BELONG

The handling Of the National Forests
is a matter which should be Of great
concern to every pubic spirited citizen
In considering transfer Of the admins
tration Of these Forests from the De
partment of Agriculture 20 the Depart.
ment of the Interior there are a great
many circumstances in connection with
their present administrator and attacks
which have been made upon the present
policy the, should be given very careful
consideration.
Statements have been made that the
present Forest Service policy interferes
largely with the development Of min
| eral resources of the country This con
tention is without foundation since the
same laws governing mining locations
have always sppiei TO the land within
the National Forest the same as they do
lands elsewhere. The chief reason flr
the contention that mining interests
have been interierred with was because
laws governing mineral locations were
never enforced until the Forest Service
enforced them Thousands Of acres OF
valuable timber and other land which
had no real value for mineral have been
| patented to individuals and corporations
under color of the mineral laws. Il
was, of course, perfectly natural that
when this graft was stopped that false
and bitter accusations would be made
against the present policy. Along with
| the prospectors and miners who settled
the Black Hills country in '76 came the
farmer and rancher. They searched out
and utilized every productive area so
that by the time the Forest had been
set aside scarcely an agricultural unit,
which would support family, was left.
The policy of the Forest Service under
the Department Of Agriculture has all
ways been to welcome the settler and
bomesteader providing he could settle
on farm unit that would in any man
ner warrant success or that would pro-
vide living for family 1t has, how
ever, discouraged the settlement upon
areas which were not large enough 10
provide a living for the settlers family
and which merely meant years OF star
walton, failure and later abandonment
II was with this end in view that the
Forest Homestead Law enacted June ] ]
1906, was passed.
After the passage Of the Forest Home.
stead Act the classification of all lands
in The Forest was undertaken TO deter
mine which areas were most valuable
for agricultural purposes and which
should be retained permanently in the
Forests for the purpose of growing tim.
Der. Al of the lands in the Black Hills
reg on, and in fact the lands in practi-
cally all Of the National Forests have
now been examined and classified
Those areas best suited for agricultural
purposes have been opened 20 entry un-
der the Homestead Act. Statistics gath
cred indicate that less than seventeen
per cent of the areas listed for filing are
now actually being cultivated. There
fore, it would seem that very liberal
policy was followed in the classification
and that the contention that large areas
suitable for cultivation are being with
held from settlement is without foupda.
ton.
The present policies, as established
under the Department Of Agriculture,
seem to amply protect the interests Of
all individuals who are dependent on
the Forest resources and transfer at
this time would seem to be a decided
mistake. The Forest Service looks upon
a Forest as a crop can be grown, har-
vested and marketed This is the view
of all nations which have made sue
cess Of Forestry. The Department Of
Agriculture is the agency for helping to
grow and harvest and market agricul-
tural crops and as the other closer re-
lated departments such as the Bureau Of
Entomology, Bureau of Plant Industry,
Biological Surveys, which are all closely
related are within the Department Of
Agriculture, therefore, it seems only
natural that the Forest Service should
remain in the Department with which it
is most intimately associated