Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-09-10
~ D. A. McKTNNON

In recent newspaper articles men
ton was made of certain forest high
ways which are built entirely with
federal funds. These constitute q
rather important portion Of Montana's
road system and are thought worthy OF
an article IN explanation
Each year congress has made appro-
priation for an item entitled Forest
Roads and Trails" which is allocated
to the states having national forest
reservations, In a ratio fixed by the
federal aid act. The theory underlying
this item Is based on the reasoning
that, since federal forest lands are not
taxable by the state, the responsibility
for development Of transportation IA
cilities across them follows ownership
and becomes a duty Of the federal gov
eminent. Unlike federal aid, grade
crossing elimination and federal lands
funds, the Forest Roads and Trails"
item is not cooperative in the sense
Of being expended by the highway COM
mission but Is rather under the direct
Jurisdiction Of the secretary Of agricul-
ture, who has In the past assigned one
certain portion for expenditure by the
forest service on development roads
and the remainder for administration
by the bureau Of public roads on ma
tional forest highways. The present ap-
propriation Of $4,000 600 Is divided In
this manner: $5,OOO,OO0 to the forest
service and S, 600 900 to the bureau of
public roads Forest development roads
are an extremely important addition
to the states road system but since
they do not revert to the state authori- /
ties for maintenance, they are not
treated further in this article.
National forest highways are those
which, on account Of cost per mile
exceeding So 900, are required by the
federal aid act to be constructed by
contract. AS before stated they are
assigned for administration to the bu-
reau Of public roads, who make all
surveys and plans, award contracts, and
supervise construction. In addition, the
bureau performs the necessary running
repairs or reconstruction mainten
ance for period Of two years after
completion Of each improvement, at
which time the state or county assumes
that responsibility.
For convenience in administration
these highways are divided into three
designations. Glass / includes those
roads coincident with the percent
federal aid system. Glass includes
roads coincident with the state second
airy or feeder road system. Glass 3 in
cludes forest roads not on the state
system which eventually are to become
the responsibility Of the counties. All !
classes are defined in systems author
lied by the secretary Of agriculture and
no funds may be spent on unauthorized
routes. The total mileage at present (
In Montana consists of 666 !
miles of class /, 287 miles Of class 2,
and 23l miles Of class 3. improvements
TO this date have been confined to the J
class l and class 2 routes. The total !
expenditures by the federal government s
On this type Of road In Montana up to
and including the fiscal year 1888 have I
been $106O9, 484, as reported In the !
testimony before the committee on I
public roads Of the national house of
representatives, while recent allotments t
10 Montana have been running close TO S
b750,000 per annum-
Priorities in the construction pro- G
yram are established at annual con- Q
erences between the bureau, the forest Z
ervice and the state, represented re- o
Ipectively, by the bureau district enRi-
leer, the forest service regional for 4
lster and the state highway commits
ion. The program having been adopt
ID, subsequent responsibility Is vested
n the bureau through its district or
,anization until expiration Of the post
construction maintenance period, when
he highway commission assumes fun
for maintenance under V
1lc SdIuc ICRu1db1OllS l1VflQ6Q IOT 1eQ~
raj aid highways.
There has been some confusion In
he public mind due to the fact that
crest highway projects are not always
within the national forests while at
lines the highway commission does
luild federal aid roads within forest
boundaries. This Is permitted by sec
ions 2Sa and 23b Of the basic act of
92l, which authorize federal construc-
ion on or adjacent to forest reserva-
ions and also provide that co-opera- FL
ion by the states may be accepted but 70
S not required. In Montana there has 70
leen considerable federal construction m
lnder the adjacent to" category and To-
Ilso state cooperation which has st.
AIKEN the form of federal aid construc- 10
ion of definite forest highway projects
" the state, these variants having re
,een undertaken to speed completion OF
# through routes as a convenience to Pl
he public. to
Since forest highways and federal TO
lid roads have been built simultaneous m
y, and since there is a close co-or- th
iination between the bureau and state. til
t follows that the engineering STAN ap
iards Of both types are closely parallel al
n each construction period. Minor diff be
,erences in design occur but on the
whole the types are quite similar. We dH
ind, therefore, about the same percen- st