562 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



that the large bodies of agricnltcral land have 

 been eliminated in the recent boundary work. 

 If other large bodies are found, our officers 

 will present then^for elimination. The agri- 

 cultural lands vmich remain in the forests 

 are scattered areas occurring as described in 

 the earlier part of this statement. 



It is the policy of the Service to open for 

 settlement those agricultural areas which 

 may be found here and there in the forest. 

 It is our emphatic belief that it is of great 

 value to the country to have settlers in the 

 forests, and also that it is of the greatest 

 advantage in protecting and administering 

 the forests. Congress has provided a way 

 for settlers to secure such areas, by the 

 Poorest Homestead Act of 1906. The object 

 of this act was to enable settlement without 

 making an elimination from the forest by 

 presidential proclamation. 



The criticism is then brought up that, as 

 the law is administered, there are such diffi- 

 culties and delays in the listing of lands as 

 to discourage settlers, and that in effect the 

 forests retard settlement in spite of the 

 Forest Homestead Act. A number of in- 

 stances of delay have been brought to my at- 

 tention. In answer, I can only say that we 

 are doing everything in our power to reduce 

 all delays and to make the time between ap- 

 plication and opening of land to entry just 

 as short as possible. Since the establishment 

 of a local district administration a year and 

 a half ago, there has been a great change in 

 the facilitation of this and other business on 

 the forests. Our special effort is and will 

 be to handle this matter with a degree of 

 efficiency which will prevent any hardship on 

 the part of the settler. 



Still another criticism which has been 

 brought against the Forest Service is that 

 certain areas of agricultural land are with- 

 drawn for administrative sites, and that these 

 are therefore excluded from homesteading. 

 The proper administration of the forests re- 

 quires that rangers and guards be stationed 

 at convenient points in the forests. This is 

 important not only in order that they may 



reach the difficult parts of their ranges for 

 fire patrol, but in order that they may be 

 readily accessible for the conduct of local 

 business. 



As conditions justify it, the number of 

 rangers will have to be increased. In my 

 judgment, the area now in charge of a single 

 man is too large, and it certainly will not 

 be many years before the size of the ranger 

 district must be reduced. It would be an 

 exceedingly shortsighted and unbusiness-like 

 policy to ignore the future requirements of 

 administering these great forests. I cer- 

 tainly shall not permit myself to be guilty 

 of imagining that conditions are going to 

 remain exactly as they are to-day. Certain 

 areas have been withdrawn for ranger sta- 

 tions and some are not now used. I shall 

 not make any change in any given case until 

 I am perfectly certain that it will not be re- 

 quired for the proper protection and admin- 

 istration of the forest. 



In conclusion, let me repeat that I believe 

 that the criticism of the government's policy 

 of agricultural settlements in the national 

 forests has been largely 1 ased on a lack of 

 thorough understanding of the conditions 

 and the policy of administration. Settlement 

 should be encouraged on the lands more val- 

 uable for agriculture than for other uses, and 

 it is our aim to administer the Forest Home- 

 stead Act to accomplish this. 



When I get on the ground with different 

 men who have questioned our policy I find 

 that there is little difference of opinion as 

 to what is rea'ly cultivable land. I do not 

 find any dispute regarding lands covered with 

 valuable timber. I do not believe that there 

 is much question regarding areas withheld 

 for reservoirs or other public purposes. 



I am confident, therefore, that with the eft- 

 operation of the users of the forests, which 

 we are already receiving so largely, the mat- 

 ter of agricultural settlement, as other ad- 

 ministrative matters in the forests, can be 

 worked out to the best permanent advantage 

 of the local communities of the state and of 

 the nation. 



