FOREST SERVICE. 301 



aggregated 156,331 acres. Of these by far the greater proportion — 

 116,220 acres — were made to clear list lands selected by the States 

 under exchange agreements, as follows : In Montana, from the Black- 

 feet Forest, 57,198 acres, and from the Flathead Forest, 32,185 acres; 

 in Washington, from the Columbia Forest, 19,018 acres, and from the 

 Colville Forest, 7,770 acres ; in South Dakota, from the Harney For- 

 est, 49 acres. The remaining eliminations, amounting to 40,111 acres, 

 were designed either to exclude lands not chiefly valuable for na- 

 tional-forest purposes or to promote the adjustment of valid claims, 

 or, in Alaska, to allow entries under the trades and manufacturers 

 act. Specifically, these eliminations were as follows: From the 

 Angeles (California), 295 acres; the Carson (New Mexico), 10,393; 

 the Fillmore (Utah), 10,161; the Harney (South Dakota), 160; the 

 Jefferson (Montana), 401; the Leadville (Colorado), 1,596; the 

 Lemhi (Idaho), 6,568; the Missoula (Montana), 320; the Powell 

 (Utah), 5,100; the Rainier (Washington), 2,730; the Eoutt (Colo- 

 rado), 2,318; and the Tongass (Alaska), 69. 



Withdrawals for national forest purposes reached their peak dur- 

 ing the fiscal year 1909. There ensued a period of systematic and 

 analytical determination of the value of the reserved lands for 

 forest purposes, with the result that during the past 14 years 

 26,631,586 acres have been eliminated from the national forests. 

 While the boundary changes were thoroughly effective in excluding 

 from national forests the lands better adapted to other purposes, 

 statutory restrictions generally barred the adding of lands chiefly 

 valuable for timber production. Even to-day many of the present 

 national forest boundaries are unsatisfactory in that they embrace 

 only parts of the natural forest units which, in the public interest, 

 should be under protection and management. Many of the circum- 

 stances which formerly precluded additions of unreserved and un- 

 appropriated public forest land have lost their importance and there 

 is now no substantial reason why the unreserved and unappropriated 

 public lands chiefly valuable for timber production or watershed 

 protection, estimated at 4,000,000 acres, should not be in national 

 forests. Neither is there any substantial reason of public interest 

 why revested lands aggregating 1,500,000 acres chiefly valuable for 

 timber production should not be in forests. The present status of 

 Indian lands, chiefly valuable for timber production, justifies a sep- 

 arate and somewhat different fonn of protection and management, 

 even though they do, in many instances, adjoin national forests and 

 form contiguous parts of natural units of tree growth; but when 

 the Indian equities are liquidated and the status of the reservations 

 is changed the unallotted timberlands now comprising parts of such 

 reservations should most emphatically be conserved and protected 

 in the public interest by inclusion within national forests. 



The amount available for purchases of lands under the Weeks law 

 was the lowest of any year since the passage of the act ; consequently 

 the acreage approved for purchase fell markedly below the levels of 

 previous years. This was unfortunate, as many desirable properties 

 within the boundaries of existing purchase units were available for 

 acquisition at low prices; and if larger expenditures had been au- 

 thorized, the Government's holdings in the East could have been 

 materially and advantageously increased. The purchase agreements 

 approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission covered 



