298 ANNUAL EEPORTS OF DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



are at present just about balanced by the net operating revenue ob- 

 tained elsewhere. In addition, considerable expenditures are made 

 yearly on the forests for their betterment and development in the 

 form of new roads and trails, buildings, range improvements, and 

 investigations looking to larger and more intensive use. The fact 

 that expenditures of this kind, amply justified on business grounds 

 and making possible greater revenues in the future, bring the total 

 expenditures of the Government on the forests approximately a mil- 

 lion dollars above the current receipts should not be permitted to ob- 

 scure the basic situation. The forests carry themselves now as oper- 

 ating public utilities, and in another year or two will more than 

 carry themselves. Under these conditions there is excellent ground 

 for asking the relatively insignificant increases necessary to maintain 

 the personnel whose efficiency directly affects the income from the 

 forests as well as their value to the public. 



NATIONAL FOREST RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. 



The receipts from the national forests for the fiscal year were as 

 follows : 



From the use of timber $2, 721, 876. 20 



From the use of forage 2,341,485.85 



From miscellaneous uses, including the use of land, water-power 

 sites, etc 272, 458. 08 



Total 5, 335, 818. 13 



A portion of this amount represents grazing fees for the fiscal 

 year 1922 which were collected in 1923 under the deferred-payment 

 system. Since it is probable that an equal amount will be collected 

 in the fiscal year 1924 on account of 1923 grazing fees, the total 

 of $5,335,818.13 may be taken as representing substantially the gross 

 revenue derived from use of the forests for the year covered by this 

 report. 



Compared with the actual receipts for the previous year, the total 

 given above shows an increase of about $270,000; but, as was ex- 

 plained in the report for 1922, the showing of receipts from grazing 

 in that year exceeded by almost $800,000 the estimated amoimt paid 

 or due for the actual use of the range for the period. Deferred 

 payments of grazing fees have affected the receipts statements of the 

 last three years. Previous to 1921 payment of the fee was always 

 made before the stock entered the forests, and the receipts of suc- 

 cessive years were comparable. Correcting the figures of actual 

 grazing receipts for the three years 1921-1923 to show as nearly as 

 possible what each year's business should be credited with, they were 

 as follows: 



Total grazing fees paid or due for fiscal year 1921 $2, 415, 618 



Total grazing fees paid or due for fiscal year 1922 2, 166, .347 



Total grazing fees paid or due for fiscal year 1923 2, 341, 486 



A corresponding correction of the total of receipts from all 

 sources for the same years gives — 



For the fiscal year 1921 $4, 468, 940. 00 



For the fiscal year 1922 4, 271. 902. 82 



For the fiscal year 1923 5, 335, 818. 13 



The high-water mark of receipts prior to 1923 was set in 1920, 

 when the total was $4,793,482. The 1923 receipts, therefore, rep- 



