162 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



GOVERNMENT TIMBER LAND. 



In 1883 the area of timber-land remaining in the hands of the Gen- 

 eral Government was estimated in round figures at 73,000,000 acres, 

 (probal)ly an underestimate). The greater part of this is situated in 

 the mountain regions of the West. Neither its condition nor its exact 

 extent and location are ascertainable from the records of the General 

 Land Office, no efforts having been made to note sufficiently the con- 

 dition of the public domain when surveys were platted. No attempts 

 are made at forestry management, and in the disi:)osal of land no 

 adequate distinction is made with a view to aiding in the develoj)ment 

 and settlement of the country. 



The efforts to prevent depredations, amounting yearly to many 

 million dollars, are mostly frustrated for lack of means or organi- 

 zation. The laws relating to the protection of the forest domain are 

 either inadequate, or ineffective for want of execution. This is often 

 made practically impossible by the existence of ''servitudes" or priv- 

 ileges like those which hamj3er the forest administrations of Eurojje, 

 i. e. , rights of certain corporations or persons to cut timber on the pub- 

 lic domain for specified uses, such as railway construction, mining 

 operations, charcoal burning, domestic use, &c.. These privileges 

 were granted by the Government to stimulate and aid development, 

 but their abuse causes continued depredation on this valuable prop- 

 erty of the people. 



The General Government should of course protect such public prop- 

 erty until disposed of, as well as any private owner would protect his 

 own, and should dispose of it only to subserve the fundamental idea 

 of our land policy, in the development of the country. 



But from the foregoing exposition it would appear that a broader 

 consideration of this property, a more distinct policy in regard to it, 

 should prevail than the mere consideration of the best manner of 

 parting with it. 



It may be confidently asserted that — 



(1) The remaining public timber domain would not be best dis- 

 posed of by sale, nor is it needed for settlement. 



(2) It is principally more valuable for the timber on it than for agri- 

 cultural purposes. 



(3) It is likewise more valuable, by its position on mountain slopes 

 and crests, for other objects than for its material. 



(4) Its retention and administration, under Government control, is 

 demanded by the best interests of the adjoining territories as well as 

 of the country at large. 



Though it cannot be expected that, by the withdrawal of such 

 lands from sale and their administration by the Government, much 

 will be contributed towards warding off scarcity in the lumber sup- 

 jjly of the future, the area being insignificant, it would to some extent 

 tend toward accelerating a wholesome change in the methods of the 

 lumber industry, curtailing the area for speculative enterprises. The 

 lands thus reserved would form a nucleus and an example for American 

 forestry, making possible the organization and economical working of 

 a Forestry Department, to which we must ultimately come. The 

 necessity of such Government forestry has been ably discussed in a 

 report to this Division by Mr. E. J. James, professor of economics 

 in the University of Pennsylvania. But most of the forest area re- 

 maining in the hands of the Government is of greater importance for 



