156 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



year such sales amounted to 23,317,000 feet. The privilege of 

 grazing a small number of stock free of charge is granted to settlers 

 living on and near the Forests. The aggregate number of stock thus 

 grazed on the National Forests amounts approximately to 125,000. 

 The National Forest lands are put to many special miscellaneous 

 uses for which no charge is made, 'though their administration in- 

 volves some expense. Strict accounting should credit the fair value 

 of such uses to the receipts from the National Forests, for it is in 

 effect Forest income which, instead of being put into the Treasury, 

 is made available for the benefit of the public. 



The business on the National Forests is on a thoroughly sound 

 basis. An efficient organization has been built up to handle the 

 work of protection of the Forests and of developing the resources. 

 The rapidly increasing use of the Forests points not only to con- 

 stantly greater service to the public, but also to increased financial 

 returns. While the underlying purpose of the National Forests is in 

 no sense a financial one, and while the general public benefits re- 

 sulting from the Forests would in themselves justify every cent that 

 it costs to maintain them, nevertheless they already are producing a 

 very substantial revenue and it should be possible in the not distant 

 future to cover not only the costs of administration and protection, 

 but also the costs of improvements, betterments, and other expenses 

 incidental to this constructive forest enterprise. 



At present the receipts from the National Forests are approxi- 

 mately three-fourths of what it costs to protect them and carry on 

 the current business. It will be necessary to increase the earnings 

 about $1,000,000 a year to cover the cost of actual operation. In 

 addition to this cost, however, there are expenses which are pri- 

 marily in the nature of investments. These comprise expenditures 

 for the construction of roads, trails, telephone lines, and similar 

 improvements, the extensive planting of trees to reestablish forests 

 which have been destroyed in the past by fires, the carrying on of 

 research and experiments to aid in the development of the best 

 methods of forestry, and expenses connected with the classification 

 and segregation of agricultural lands within the Forests, the estab- 

 lishment of the permanent boundaries, and the making of home- 

 stead and other surveys. All expenses connected with the National 

 Forests, including these investment expenses as well as the cost of 

 operation, approximate $5,275,000. 



INCREASED RETURNS IN PROSPECT. 



A fairly steady increase in receipts may confidently be expected. 

 This will be derived chiefly from the two principal income-pro- 

 ducing resources — timber and grazing. It may not be possible to 

 secure as large an advance in receipts from timber sales during the 

 coming year as occurred during the year ended June 30, 1916. That 

 very large increase was somewhat abnormal. Each of the two pre- 

 ceding years had shown a decline in timber receipts, and the total 

 for 1916 was only about $71,000 above that for 1913. For some 

 years the lumber industry of the country has been in a depressed 

 condition, and while there was some improvement in 1916, which 

 was reflected in the receipts of the year, this improvement has not yet 

 enabled the Service greatly to extend its p'ermanent business. The 



