234 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



within the national forests when necessary for the use and develop- 

 ment of resources upon which communities within or adjacent to 

 the forests are dependent. The act provided that the expenditures 

 in any forest constitute a liability against 10 per cent of the future 

 receipts from that forest, and it limited the expenditures to 10 per 

 cent of the value of national forest timber and forage within the 

 county or counties where the road is located. Application for aid 

 must be filed by the properly constituted State or county authorities, 

 and cooperation in an equitable amount is a requisite before Federal 

 money can be spent upon a project. 



While this fund may legally be used for roads developing forest 

 as well as other resources, there was a great need for roads and 

 trails required prmiarily for the administration and protection of 

 the national forests. On February 28, 1919, $9,000,000 was appro- 

 priated, to be expended in cooperation with the local authorities for 

 roads and trails necessary for the national forests or which were of 

 national importance. 



In the meantime the interest in the construction of better roads 

 throughout the Nation had become widespread, and there was a 

 general demand for Federal aid on roads traversing the national 

 forests, which form links in State and county highway systems. 

 The forest road legislation previously enacted did not specify the 

 proportion of the total appropriations which should be expended 

 upon roads constructed primarily for the use of the public. Since 

 the need for these roads was very evident, and since it was found 

 almost impossible to get local cooperation on the roads and trails 

 primarily required for the protection of the forests themselves, a 

 large portion of the total appropriations was expended on the roads 

 of primary importance to public travel and the development of the 

 administrative and utilization road system did not advance as fast 

 as the conditions required. 



The action taken by Congress in the Federal highway act of Novem- 

 ber 1, 1921, meets the requirements of national forest road construc- 

 tion very satisfactorily, and the present legislation will probably 

 answer the needs for many years to come. The outstanding feature 

 of this legislation is a recognition that forest-road funds are required 

 (1) for the administration, protection, and development of the Gov- 

 ernment's own properties in order that they may not only be safe- 

 guarded but also made of maximum service to the public; (2) for 

 aid to the States and counties in the construction of roads which 

 are essential links in the public-highway system. Separate appro- 

 priations were made by Congress for these two classes of roads, and 

 while the ^Secretary of Agriculture is permitted to accept cooperation, 

 financial assistance is not required. 



By section 23 of the Federal highway act, $5,000,000 was made 

 immediately available for Forest roads and trails and $10,000,000 

 was made available on July 1, 1922. The act provides that 

 $2,500,000 of the first appropriation and $3,000,000 of the second, 

 or in other words a total of $5,500,000, shall be used for roads and 

 trails of primary importance for the protection, administration, and 

 utilization of the national forests, or, when necessary, for the use 

 and development of the resources upon which communities within 

 or adjacent to the national forests are dependent. This appro- 

 priation has been designated as the forest-cievelopment fund. In 



