156 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



and diffuse prosperity. In other words, public control 

 has served social as well as economic ends. 



The National Forests contain approximately one-half 

 of the water power of the West. The department for 

 nearly a decade has been issuing permits for its devel- 

 opment. Unfortunately, the present law does not author- 

 ize the granting of permits for fixed periods. It should 

 be amended, and recommendations to this end have been 

 made repeatedly by the department. While authority to 

 grant term permits undoubtedly would aid water-power 

 utilization, the fact remains that development, practically 



to the extent of the market, actu;: 



Ulv IS now 



taking place 



DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION ON A NATIONAL FOREST 



Rangers constructing a bridge. Public ownership carries with it responsibilities to aid in community 

 upbuilding tiirough road work in undeveloped regions. 



on the Forests. In the Western States power develop- 

 ment has advanced proportionately very much more rap- 

 idly than in the East, where land is privately owned. The 

 amount of water-power used in the generation of elec- 

 tricity by public utilities corporations, street railway com- 

 panies and municipalities has in the last decade increased 

 440 per cent in the West, or more than twice as fast as 

 in the remainder of the country. There, in proportion 

 to population, four and one-half times as much water 

 power is used as in the remainder of the United States, 

 and nearly three times as much as in the Eastern States. 

 Of the existing 1,800,000 water horsepower in the 

 Western States, 50 per cent is in plants constructed in 

 whole or in part on the Forests and operated under 

 permit from the department. Plants under construction 

 will develop about 200,000 additional horsepower, while 



over 1,000,000 more are under permit for future con- 

 struction. The chief obstacle to further immediate 

 water-power expansion is the lack of market, for plants 

 in operation in the West now have a surplus of power 

 of which they cannot dispose. 



The National Forests are open to prospecting and the 

 initiation of mineral locations just as in the open public 

 domain. 



The existence of the Forests gives certain advantages 

 to the miner. It is not on the great private timber tracts 

 in the western mountains that the miner is prospecting. 

 It is only on the Forests and other public lands open to 



mineral locations, if he makes 

 a disco\-ery that he can get title 

 merely through conscientious 

 ciimiiliance with the mining 

 law. Many miners today are 

 securing their timber from the 

 Forests, and because of its pro- 

 tection and continued produc- 

 tion a steady supply at reason- 

 able rates is assured. 



The National Forests are 

 used also for health and recrea- 

 tion. They embrace the high, 

 rugged mountains of the West, 

 the scenery of which is unsur- 

 passed. These great areas are 

 open to the whole nation. Al- 

 ready more than one and one- 

 half million people visit them 

 annually for recreation, and 

 this number is increasing rap- 

 idly as roads and trails are 

 Iniilt, making new points acces- 

 siljle. The lands bordering on 

 the hundreds of lakes and 

 streams in the Forests offer at- 

 tractive sites for camps and for 

 permanent summer residences. 

 Authority now exists to grant 

 term leases for the erection of 

 summer homes, hotels, and 

 similar buildings, and large numbers will take advantage 

 of this privilege. I'ublic ownership has protected the 

 natural beauty of these areas. Their recreational value 

 has been maintained and increased through road and 

 trail construction and through intelligent stud\' of the 

 needs of the public. 



To the agricultural interests of the West the proper 

 handling of the Forests is of great importance. The 

 Forests conserve and increase the supply of water. Fire 

 protection gives property an added value, as do roads, 

 trails, and other Government improvements. In fact, the 

 existence of the Forests gives a permanence to agricul- 

 ture that does not exist where the timberlands are pri- 

 vately owned. 



What has happened in the older lumber regions of the 

 country is well known. The scattered agricultural areas 

 were occupied as long as the timber lasted and lumbering 



