1 62 North American Forests and Forestry 



small registration fee, to any settler after he has 

 resided on the land and improved it for five years. 

 Large tracts were also granted to various railway 

 companies, in aid of their building railroads through 

 unsettled territory, and all of the new States carved 

 out of the public domain were given a part of the 

 lands within their limits. The grants to States 

 were mostly coupled with the condition that they 

 were to be used in aid of various public institutions 

 to be established, such as schools, universities, 

 agricultural colleges, and so forth. Large grants 

 were also made for drainage purposes, and the 

 courts have held that the States had the right to 

 judge how much of the revenue derived from them 

 was needed for that object, and that they might 

 divert the rest to something else. So this class of 

 lands, at least, is held by the States virtually with- 

 out being burdened with any trust. The States 

 have mostly followed the example of the general 

 government and disposed of these lands to private 

 parties as fast as a demand was found for them. 

 The result is that the older States which were 

 benefited by these grants have but little public 

 land left, while the younger ones still have con- 

 siderable tracts, much of it not yet surveyed and 

 patented. Suppose that a State should decide to 

 retain possession of such public lands as are fit for 

 the maintenance of forests, and manage them as 

 such. What objects could be held in view by such 

 a policy ? 



Clearly, the State might proceed just as a private 



