400 Forestry Quarterly. 



Claims within the National Forests are constantly the source 

 of much annoyance and trouble because of the frequent attempts 

 at fraud. 



During the fiscal year 1913, 1,690 individual tracts of land 

 in the National Forests' passed into private ownership through the 

 patenting of claims. These included: 



Homestead claims, 977 



Desert land claims, 6 



Timber, stone claims, 35 



Mineral claims, 639 



Coal claims, 24 



Miscellaneous claims, 5 



In 191 1, this total was almost 3CXX), while in 1912, it had 

 dropped to 1500. There are several reasons for this, but they 

 cannot be discussed here. Suffice it to say, that the criticism that 

 the Forest Service hinders homesteading and prospecting is un- 

 just, and not substantiated by facts. Those who have been foiled 

 in attempts to patent fraudulent claims have naturally been the 

 chief opponents of the present "claim policy" on the National 

 Forests. 



Land Classification. 



This work was seriously inaugurated in 1909, but the work has 

 seen its greatest development since the fiscal year 191 2, because 

 of previous experience gained, and the increased appropriations. 

 The purpose of the work in Mr. Graves' own words is "to segre- 

 gate and make available for the establishment and development 

 of homes, all National Forest land which will serve its best pur- 

 pose by being brought under cultivation." 



In general the work includes the following: 



1. Classification of areas where the amount of land chiefly valu- 

 able for agriculture warrants large eliminations. 



2. Detailed classification of considerable areas. 



3. Examination and classification of single scattered tracts for 

 which prospective settlers make application. 



Timber Sales. 

 The total stand of timber on the National Forests inclusive 

 of Alaska is approximately 600,000,000,000 board feet. Of this 



