EDITORIAL 



WORK UNDER THE NEW FOREST LAW 



^ ^ l 'HE Forest Service had been preparing for action in view of the probable 

 C^J passage of the Weeks bill for some time before it became a law and no 

 ^*^ time was lost in preliminaries. All arrangements have been made for 

 making public the necessary information and for putting men in the field, 

 so that purchases may be made before the close of the fiscal year. It is, 

 therefore, timely to consider what is needed to obtain most promptly the 

 results expected from the law. 



As already stated, conditions are so acute in the White Mountains and 

 the territory to be considered is so much more circumscribed than in the 

 south that immediate action is called for there. It will also be easier to 

 make purchases in that section during what remains of the fiscal year because 

 titles are .so much clearer than in the southern mountains, and the owners 

 are so much less numerous. It may fairly be expected then that the first 

 action to be taken by the government authorities will be in the White 

 Mountains. 



In these mountains, owing to the local conditions, the primary neeQ is 

 to secure for protective purposes the timbered upper slopes on the several 

 drainage areas, all of which are in danger of early destruction and are needed 

 to be preserved to protect the ultimate water sources and the soil without 

 which these mountain sides will be of little use. 



Next in order would seem to come the cut-over upper slopes in the same 

 regions, in order that the work of restoration may begin before the soil 

 denudation is completed. 



Third, the administrative units may be completed by acquisitions on 

 the lower levels. Thus the work of protection, which is the main purpose of 

 the law, will be logically developed. 



Finally, there are two areas outside of the White Mountains proper the 

 protection of which is nece.ssary to comply with the purposes of the law. 

 One of the.se is the great forested north country of Coos County, about the 

 headwaters of the Connecticut, the most important navigable stream of New 

 England. The other is the Magalloway country in Maine and New Hamp- 

 shire, an important part of the Androscoggin watershed. We believe that 

 the full carrying out of these plans involves the purchase of about a million 

 acres in the north, and that something over four million acres are needed for 

 the national holdings in the south, where the exact areas are not yet so 

 definitely indicated. In the northern mountains the plan has been carefully 

 studied by many experts and the requirements are well understood. There 

 need be little delay, therefore, in mapping out the exact plan of procedure. 



In the announcement made elsewhere of the plans of the department we 

 call especial attention to Secretary Wilson's statement that he expects a 

 great deal of public spirit to be shown in offering lands to carry out this great 

 policy. We hope he may not be disappointed. 



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