Locating Reserves. 279 



present needs of the service must therefore be considered in making 

 selections for ranger quarters, and this action is sure to result in 

 more or less criticism of forest officers by persons wishing to secure 

 these locations for their own use. 



It has been definitely decided that forest reserve lands bearing a 

 good stand of merchantable timber are not necessarily agricultural, 

 even though, when cleared, they would produce a valuable crop. In 

 other words, this Act will not be allowed to so operate as to permit 

 the securing of timber land for speculative purposes. As a gen- 

 eral rule, lands of this character will not be listed until the timber on 

 them has been sold by the Forest Service. 



The first field work under this act has been in the Priest River, 

 Washington, and Bitter Root forest reserves, in Idaho, Washington 

 and Montana. In the Priest River reserve, the lands in greatest de- 

 mand are the open meadows and alder and willow bottoms along the 

 streams. These areas are usually more or less swampy because of 

 numerous beaver dams, to which, in fact, their original formation is 

 largely due. They can, however, be readily drained, and the soil is 

 well adapted to the growing of hay. 



Experience has shown that the homesteading of timber lands in 

 areas now reserved as a rule has not resulted in actual settlement 

 and development of the country. Residence was frequently only 

 perfunctory, and final proof a fraud. Title once secured, the timber 

 was sold to lumber companies, ruthlessly slashed over, and the 

 ground left a menace to the surrounding region. 



The Act of June 11 promises to reverse all this, and bids fair to 

 remove the last vestige of ground for effective opposition to the re- 

 serve policy. Actual residence will be required, and commutation not 

 permitted. Instead of timber speculators, a class of home-makers 

 will be attracted. Settlers will be interested in keeping the reserves 

 free from fire, and will form a body of men who can be called upon 

 quickly when occasion requires. Narrow meadows or valleys can 

 be utilized, and the full 160 acres of agricultural land secured. In 

 many cases this would be impossible under the old law, where de- 

 scriptions must be by legal subdivisions of 40 acres. In many cases, 

 of course, agricultural products in isolated sections cin be maiketed 

 only by feeding during the winter to stock ranging through the sum- 

 mer on the reserves. The sale of reserve timber, and the assurance 

 of future crops through fire protection and replanting will guaran- 



