FOREST SEEVICE. 401 



The adequate development of the enormous latent resources of the 

 National Forests, particularly the construction of roads and other 

 means of transportation which will be needed to overcome their 

 maccessibilitv, will require ultimately very large expenditures. In 

 many localities there is an insistent demancf for such improvements at 

 the present time. It will be impossible for the Service to comply with 

 this demand until the equipment needed in its protective and admin- 

 istrative work is completed. The undertaking of construction work 

 designed to open up the inaccessible resources of the National Forests 

 will dei)end furthermore upon the future pohcy adopted as to the 

 extent to which such development should be a matter of public as 

 against private enterprise. 



Including the last nscal year, the permanent improvements con- 

 structed on the National Forests since the}" were placed under admin- 

 istration aggregate 1,325 miles of road, 9,163 miles of trail, 7,381 

 miles of telephone line, 350 miles of fire line, 2,327 miles of fence, 

 1,338 houses, 775 barns, 280 corrals, and 271 bridges. With 256,000 

 square miles of National Forest land under administration, exclusive 

 of Alaska and Porto Rico, the facilities for communication com- 

 pleted up to the present time amount to 0.19 mile of road, 1.29 miles 

 of trail, and 1.04 miles of telephone line per township of 36 square 

 miles. The funds available during the past year made possible the 

 construction ol 0.018 mile of road, 0.19 mile of trail, and 0.2 mile 

 of telephone Une per township. The inadequacy of these improve- 

 ments for the protection of the National Forests is apparent. At 

 least 10 miles of trail and 6 miles of telephone Une per township are 

 necessary to place the protection of the National Forests upon a 

 sure footing. The current appropriation (fiscal year 1912) may 

 permit, by practically eliminating the construction of other forms 

 of improvements, the building of a maximum of 0.6 mile of trail and 

 0.3 mile of telephone Hne per township, besides necessary expen- 

 ditures for the maintenance of existing structures. At this rate 15 

 v'*^ars win be required to complete the fundamental communication 

 facilities needed for an efficient protective organization. 



EXAMINATION OF LANDS UNDER THE WEEKS LAW. 



The act of March 1, 1011, commonly known as the Weeks law» 

 provided for the acquisition of forest lands on the watersheds of 

 navigable streams in order to promote and protect their navigabihty 

 through forest preservation. The act imposes upon the Forest 

 Service new duties in the selection of the general areas for purchase, 

 in the examination and valuation of the lands and forest growth to 

 be acquired, and in conducting the negotiations for purchase. The 

 work being different from any before done by the Forest Service, it 

 became necessary for its handling to create a new unit of organiza- 

 tion. The immediate control of the work was placed in charge of 

 an assistant forester and an organization was effected for making 

 the necessary'' examinations and reports. Since S2,000,000 were 

 made available for the fiscal year 1911, an attempt was made to 

 examine as much land as possible with a view to its purchase before 

 the end of the year. 



From the information which had been gathered during the past 

 10 years it was possible for the Forest Service to designate at once 



231G.j'— AGR lOJ 1 26 



