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trees and which must in time be planted up to give the native 

 forest the necessary protection in the nature of a shelter belt. 



Modification of Reserves. 



Where the land belongs to the government, it is definitely set 

 aside and while so set apart cannot be leased or sold by the gov- 

 ernment or used in any way for any purposes which are incon- 

 sistent with the forest laws. Lands may be withdrawn by 

 proclamation after the required public hearing. In some places 

 there may still be small areas which it is advisable to eliminate 

 from present reserves, where the description, being prepared 

 hastily, runs from peak to peak and includes lands which are not 

 required for forest protection, and are more valuable for other 

 purposes. 



In other places there are small areas of land, such as abandoned 

 homesteads in the forest where the raising of crops has been un- 

 successful, which should be added to the present forest reserves. 

 Where the reserve boundaries cross privately owned lands, the 

 proclamation does not affect the status of the land but is merely 

 a recommendation that such land be treated and cared for as a 

 forest reserve. 



Surrender of Forest Lands. 



There is a provision in the law (Sec. 490), whereby private 

 land, whether held under lease or in fee, may be surrendered to 

 the care, custody and control of the government as a forest reserve 

 for one or more years or forever. No taxes shall be levied or 

 collected upon any private lands so surrendered for such a pur- 

 pose so long as the same remains exclusively under the control 

 of the government as a forest reservation. 



Advantage has been taken of this law to the extent of sur- 

 rendering 12,739 acres for a term of 17 years in one case, and in 

 another about 120 acres was surrendered for a term of five years. 



Where the government land in a proclaimed forest reserve is 

 still under lease, the forest reservation does not take effect until 

 the expiration of the lease. 



Cooperation Necessary. 



On account of our peculiar system of land boundaries, the 

 variously owned lands usually running in strips from the sea 

 up to the mountains, it is obviously necessary that there be close 

 cooperation between the government and private owners, or be- 

 tween private owners of such forest reserve lands in their man- 

 agement, if general benefits are to be derived. In other words, 

 the lands should be treated as if they were under one ownership 

 so that boundary fences may be continuous across private as well 

 as government lands and so that resulting benefits from forest 

 protection may be universal within the whole forest reserve. 



