METHODS IN DETERMINING RESERVE BOUNDARIES. 



The Section of Reserve Boundaries in the Forest Service, occu- 

 pies itself with the examination of lands for new forest reserves, 

 for additions to and eliminations from existing reserves, and for the 

 classification of agricultural land in accordance with the Act of Con- 

 gress of June 11, 1906. The importance of this work has increased 

 enormously, and there has been a steady evolution in the methods 

 employed. The first reserves were created upon petition of persons 

 interested, without detailed examination by representatives of the 

 Government. Now, there is a force of specially trained men who 

 devote their whole time to this branch of activity. 



In all branches of boundary work, three distinct steps are essen- 

 tial: (1) The preliminary collection of topographic and alienated 

 land data; (2) Field examination; (3) Preparation of maps and 

 reports. 



Topography of surveyed areas within or adjoining the limits des- 

 ignated for examination is copied on township plats, on a scale of 

 one inch to the mile ; on these plats the sections are divided by dotted 

 lines into 40-acre tracts. This data is secured from the official plats 

 on file at the office of the U. S. Surveyor General for the State or 

 Territory, or at the U. S. Land Office for the district within which 

 the area to be examined is located. Frequently, as in the mountains 

 of the Southwest, large areas are unsurveyed, and the missing topo- 

 graphy must be sketched in the field. Where mountain lands are 

 in demand for summer stock ranches, as is the case in Colorado and 

 Utah, the surveys are nearly complete. 



Where available, the topographic sheets prepared by the U. S. 

 Geological Survey are used in supplying data as to topography of 

 unsurveyed mountain areas and in supplementing the information 

 given by the plats of the Land Office surveys. The latter give lit- 

 tle or no idea as to relative altitudes in mountain regions. 



Data concerning alienated lands are secured at the local U. S. 

 Land Office and are marked on the township plats above mentioned, 

 by means of rubber stamps especially prepared for that purpose. 

 Each stamp makes a distinctive mark or character, to denote, by le- 

 gal subdivisions of 40 acres, one of the different kinds of entries 



