160 ANNUAL REPOKTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The importance of having public forests at the headwaters of 

 important streams has been recognized and greatly emphasized 

 through the appropriation of $3,000,000 for continued purchases of 

 forest lands, begun under the so-called Weeks Law. The work of 

 establishing these new Forests has been started under most favor- 

 able auspices, and its discontinuance would have been peculiarly 

 unfortunate. With the new appropriation the purchases may now go 

 forward with a view to blocking out and extending the various units. 



AREA AND ORGANIZATION CHANGES. 



Presidential proclamations and Executive orders excluded from the 

 National Forests last year 8,534,061 acres of land and added 116,916 

 acres. There were within the National Forest boundaries on June 

 30, 1916, 176,088,608 acres, including 20,668,328 acres of alienated 

 land. The net National Forest area, or, in other words, the area 

 actually owned by the public, was at the close of the year 155,420,280 

 acres. 



A portion of the Paulina Forest in Oregon was eliminated, and the 

 remainder was divided between the Deschutes, the Fremont, and the 

 Crater Forests, and the Kansas National Forest was abolished. By 

 an Executive order effective July 1, 1916, the Bonneville and Washa- 

 kie Forests, Wyoming, were combined under the latter name. In 

 consequence of these changes the number of the National Forests at 

 the beginning of the new yearwas 152, as against 155 on July 1, 1915. 



CLAIMS, ALIENATIONS, AND LAND CLASSIFICATION. 



Through the patenting of claims 1,491 tracts passed to private 

 ownership during the year, as against 881 in 1915. The greatest 

 increase was in the patenting of homesteads, which numbered 761, as 

 against 360 in 1915. Patents were issued for 703 mineral claims, 8 

 timber and stone claims, 2 coal claims, 4 desert claims, and 13 mis- 

 cellaneous entries. The timber and stone claims and the desert 

 claims represent filings recorded before the lands were withdrawn for 

 National Forest purposes. 



The work of classifying and opening to homestead entry such lands 

 in the National Forests as are chiefly valuable for agriculture is 

 progressing rapidly. This work is meeting with general approval. 

 The results gathered under the special fund appropriated for this 

 purpose are now becoming available. The reports and maps covering 

 the areas examined by parties of land examiners are being rapidly 

 completed and forwarded for final action. Already over 70,000,000 

 acres have been covered by field examinations and the final reports 

 acted upon. In a considerable number of classification projects it 

 early became evident that after the lands suitable for farm purposes 

 had been segregated the remaining lands would not make practical 

 units for administration. In such cases the matter was promptly 

 settled by closing the classification project and eliminating the entire 

 area. 



Since the passage in 1912 of the act providing funds for land classi- 

 cation, and as a direct result of 'classification work, a total of 

 13,477,781 acres has been eliminated from the National Forests. 

 This includes an elimination of approximately 5,800,000 acres of land 



