474 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



school Iniid^; within the then Bhick Hills National Forest for other 

 lands equivalent in acreage and value lying along and within the 

 boundaries of the national forest. The area involved in the agreement 

 amounted to (50,143.92 acres. To satisfy the State's equity the procla- 

 mations alTecting the Harney and the Sioux National Forests were 

 modified to permit the State to select 47,937.G5 acres from the Harney 

 Forest and 12,20G.27 acres from the Sioux. 



A similar proclamation was signed June 4, 1912, completing an 

 agreement entered into July 10, 1911, affecting the St. Joe National 

 Forest, Idaho. There is also now under way an examination of the 

 unsurveyed school sections within all the national forests of Idaho 

 in conformity with an agreement entered into by the State and the 

 Department of Agriculture on October 4, 1911, whereby the State is 

 to relinquish its claim to the unsurveyed sections within the several 

 national forests and select in lieu thereof one or more areas lying 

 along and within the present boundaries of the national forests, 

 equivalent in acreage and value to the lands surrendered. 



The act of March 4, 1911 (Public, No. 513), authorized the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior to exchange desert lands therein described for 

 lands owned by the Portland Land Co. within the national forests 

 of Oregon. In accordance with the provisions of the act an examina- 

 tion was made by the Forest Service of the lands to be reconveyed to 

 the United States and a recommendation that the exchange be made 

 has been forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior. 



Under provisions of the act of February 28, 1911 (37 Stat., 960), 

 Messrs. G. W. Finnup and James Cowgill made application for the 

 exchange of private lands within the Kansas National Forest for 

 other lands within the national forest. Both applications were 

 approved and forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior. 



Other exchange projects are under way. The governor of Montana 

 has expressed a desire to enter into an agreement similar to the Idaho 

 agreement for the exchange of the Montana school lands for national 

 forest lands. A bill is pending in Congress looking to the exchange 

 of State and Government lands in Michigan. Several other less im- 

 portant applications for exchanges made by companies and individ- 

 uals are pending. The basis of these various negotiations is the ex- 

 change of lands approximately equal in acreage and value. 



The advantages of such exchanges of land both to the States or 

 individuals and to the Forest Service scarcely need pointing out. 

 The States will in each case secure valuable areas of land in compact 

 form in lieu of scattered sections. This will enable them to secure 

 a greater revenue from the areas both by State management of the 

 timbered lands and by more advantageous leases of the grazing 

 areas. The Forest Service benefits from such exchanges principally 

 because it is advantageous from an administrative standpoint to have 

 the national forest units as solid as possible. 



In view of these mutual advantages opportunity for similar ex- 

 changes both with States and with individuals will be sought. Other 

 States may eventually find it desirable to effect such exchanges. No 

 need exists for exchanges in Arizona and New Mexico, as the en- 

 abling acts of these States provide for the administration of th** 

 school lands within the national forests by the Forest Service, the 

 State receiving a pro rata of the receipts. 



