REPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 65 



and unsatisfactory, for it can not always be told where the right of 

 way should run. Authority should be given to the Secretary of the 

 Interior to express in the patent the reservation of rights of way 

 for governmental purposes and to meet the needs of settlers. 



WORK or THE YEAR. 



With field enlarged by the extension of the work under the Weeks 

 law, providing for the acquisition by the Federal Government of 

 forested lands on the watersheds of navigable streams, and with a 

 material gain in efficiency and increase in output in old lines of work, 

 the total cost of all Forest Service activities was lowered from a little 

 over $5,900,000 in the fiscal year 1911 to about $5,530,000 in 1912. 

 The 1911 expenditures, however, included the heavy disbursements 

 necessitated by the great forest fires in the fall of 1910. Notwith- 

 standing this fact it is beyond question that the Forest Service got 

 last year larger and better results for every dollar expended than 

 ever before. This is due to the constant study of efficiency in organi- 

 zation and improvement of the administrative mechanism- 



The work of readjusting the National Forest boundaries was con- 

 tinued, with the result that during the year a net reduction in the 

 total area of the forests was effected, amounting to something over 

 3,000,000 acres. 



In States in which it is still possible to add to the forests new 

 areas which should be included, the boundary readjustments added 

 last year not quite 250,000 acres. To the six States (Washing- 

 ton, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado) in which 

 additions to the forests by presidential proclamations are for- 

 bidden Congress added, near the close of the last session, California. 

 The gross area of all forests at the close of the year was about 

 187,500,000 acres and the net area about 165,000,000 acres. 



To consolidate the National Forest holdings and to provide for 

 satisfaction of the equity of States having unsurveyed school lands 

 within the forests, agreements providing for an exchange with the 

 States of South Dakota and Idaho of such school lands for other 

 lands of equivalent acreage and value, lying in solid blocks along 

 and within the boundaries of the forests, were entered into. The 

 agreement with South Dakota affects about 60,000 acres. Surveys 

 to determine the area which Idaho will exchange were under way 

 at the close of the year. Other exchanges affecting both State and 

 private lands are pending. Legislation to permit this policy to be 

 applied more broadly is needed. 



Cooperation with the Department of the Interior through reports 

 on mining claims within National Forests when patent is sought was 

 continued. These examinations are the only means of protection 



70|S1°— AGK1012 5 



