PLANTING IN KIXATION TO TIIK FrTlRK 1T5 



Large areas have recently been opened under the grazing homestead 

 law and as rapidly entered. The National Forests in one district alone 

 contain about six million acres of grassland, sagebrush, land above 

 timberline. etc. Is there any reason for supposing that the prospective 

 homesteader, the politician, and the agitator will not point with greedy 

 hands to the large grazing areas within the National Forests and ask 

 why this land, similar in character to the grazing homesteads, should not 

 also be opened to entry? They will point to the fact that the National 

 Forests have as advantages over the average grazing homestead water 

 and timber ; they will point to the increased number of stock that have 

 been grazed on the Forest ranges during the past few years, which 

 demonstrates clearly the grazing character of the land and makes it 

 compare very favorably with the average grazing homestead. You may 

 doubt the value of the grazing homesteads and state that this land will 

 eventually pass into the hands of stockmen, but this will not be apparent 

 for some years and not before the threatened danger to the National 

 Forests is likely to appear. 



During this period the Forest Service will be upon the defensive 

 and a clear and definite policy will be necessary in order for the Service 

 to retain its areas intact. The necessity for retaining scattered areas 

 of grassland for administrative reasons in connection with the manage- 

 ment of adjacent timber lands is of little force to the general public. 

 The argument that certain areas are potentially forest lands and neces- 

 sary to the management of a certain unit loses its value when these 

 areas of sagebrush or grassland are continued year after year as ranges 

 and no efifort is made to afforest or reforest them, as the case may be. 

 To this the reply is made that all the Forests have been thoroughly 

 classified in accordance with the existing law, and that we simply need 

 to produce our classification reports and show that the land is more 

 valuable for forestry than it is for agriculture or grazing. Undoubtedly 

 the classification reports answer the purpose in segregating arable land 

 from true forest land, as we know agriculture development at present. 

 But I contend that our classification reports are not infallible, particu- 

 larly with respect to the present policy of developing public lands to 

 their highest use, as expressed by Congress in the grazing homestead 

 bill. That Congress has not looked with favor upon the inclusion of 

 purely grazing land within the Forests or their administration .sepa- 

 rately under lease to stockmen is evident by their turning down pro- 

 posed legislation of this kind. This being the national policy, whv 

 should we not expect attacks upon the classifications of the National 

 Forests if the large grazing areas within these Forests, having a poten- 



