164 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



PLAN FOR A FOREST DEPARTMENT. 



I may be allowed to quote here from a letter recenth^ written hy 

 me on this subject at the request of a si:>ecial agent of the Department 

 of the Interior: 



* * * As preliminary to the discussion of what should be the policy of the Gen- 

 eral Government, allow me to state a few points of forestry which must be under- 

 stood : 



(1) Not more than what grows yearly or during certain periods should be cut in a 

 forest which is to be kept in perpetuity. 



(2) No clearing, unless followed by immedip.te planting, is admissible in mountain 

 forests; nor is it advisable in the plain. 



(3) The cutting of timber must be done with a view of renewal above all other 

 considerations. The method, time, and duration of cutting over a given tract de- 

 pend upon the kind of timber and the locality. To be continually successful in 

 keeping a desirable forest cover requu-es more care than the simple method of selec- 

 tion practised by the lumbermen. 



(4) V/hat the average yearly accretion in the forests of the public domain amounts 

 to is still more uncertain than theh- extent. Assuming that the 70.000,000 acres 

 probably owned by the Government produce yearly, at an average, only 10 cubic feet 

 per acre, which by correct management could in a short time be doubled, and reck- 

 oning 1 cent per cubic foot on the stumij as a low estimate, the domain at present 

 represents a capital of at least $280,000,000. The annual expenditure for the pres- 

 ervation and improvement of such property of a sum equal to the value represented 

 by the annual growth may not be considered extravagant. To this add tlie larger 

 part of $8,000,000, the value of timber destroyed by fires, which would probably be 

 prevented by proper organization.* If, therefore, the importance of these moun- 

 tain forests did not justify a larger expenditure annually upon their preservation, 

 the application of the value of their annual product for their protection and man- 

 agement would be admissible simply from a business point of view. 



The following features in the organization of the public timber domain appear 

 desirable and practicable : 



(1) To withdraw from sale or other disposal all timber lands. 



(2) If the expense of a survey — a simple running of outside boundaries — appears 

 too great to warrant such survey, the withdrawal may be gradually effected by 

 a process of exclusion Avhenever entries for land are made. The exact location, 

 too, may be established gradually from the notes of local land offices and the obser- 

 vations of the forest guards, as hereinafter suggested. But in the more settled 

 districts a boundary survey at least will soon become necessary. 



(3) The organization of the service should include a central bureau, traveling and 

 local inspectors, and forest guards. 



(4) The organization of the forest area should proceed gradually, as required, by 

 dividing it into reserves of ten to twenty thousand acres each, twenty to thirty of 

 such reserves to be formed into a district, the size and number of reserves and dis- 

 tricts to be dependent on local needs and the greater or less difficulty of inspection. 

 Unorganized territory to be divided into districts only, 



(5) Functions of oiScers : 



The rangers, or forest guards, act as local police, under general instructions and 

 regulations from the central bureau, and under direct supervision of local inspect- 

 ors, to whom they are responsible for their reserves and upon whose recommenda- 

 tions they should be appointed. Assistants may be requued during the dangerous 

 season, and sheriff's power to call upon the aid of any citizen should be conferred 

 upon these. 



*The acres burned over and values destroyed during the census year 1880 were 

 reported as follows : 



States and Territories. 



California 



Washington 



Oregon 



Total Pacific slope 



Montana 



Idaho 



Acres. 



350,895 

 37.010 

 132,320 



527, 045 



88,020 

 21,000 



Value. 



$440, 750 

 713,200 

 593, 850 



1,747,800 



1,128,000 

 202,000 



States and Territories. 



Wyoming 



Nevada 



Utah 



Colorado 



Arizona 



New Mexico 



Total Rocky Mountains 



83, 7.S0 

 8,710 

 42, 805 

 113,820 

 10. 240 

 (>1, 03-1 



4-32, 404 



Value. 



$3,25,5,000 



19,000 



1,042,800 



935,500 



.5(1, (XiO 



142,075 



0,780,371 



