6 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



also exercised the right of withdrawal by setting aside 

 22,000,000 acres of the best timber land that was owned 

 by the nation. The best and most accessible timber land 

 had already been sold for trifling sums taken up under 

 the homestead and other land laws or given away so that 

 lands then in the hands of the Government were largely 

 confined to higher elevations and were more or less in- 

 accessible. 



This withdrawal aroused considerable feeling in the 

 "West. The Government for years had been lavish with 

 land; millions of acres had been given to railway and 

 wagon road companies. Large tracts of valuable farm 

 land had been obtained fraudulently, being listed as 

 swamps. Lumbermen had cut timber from land owned 

 by the people the same as if they owned it and sheep- 

 herders and cattlemen had grazed their herds so long 

 upon the open ranges of the public domain that they 

 regarded this right to pasture as truly theirs. 



To see this land withdrawn from public use aroused 

 their ire and much of the opposition to the national 

 forest policy which is still found in parts of the West 

 is owing to the fact that the Government foresters insist 

 that land owned by all the people shall be used for the 

 benefit of all the people and not to the advantage alone 

 of the local lumberman or ranchman. 



Uncle Sam's Woodlot. When Colonel Roosevelt be- 

 came president the withdrawals increased enormously 

 and at present Uncle Sam's woodlot contains 165,000,000 

 acres divided into 155 national forests worth over two 

 billion dollars. Since forestry means use, this enormous 

 area of forest land is being managed in such a way that 

 the present generation can get the good of the Govern- 

 ment-owned forests and yet they can be passed on to the 

 next generation in good condition. 



