A STATE FOREST POSSIBLE. 



CLARK V. SAVIDGE, Commissioner of Public Lands. 



IN preparing an article on the subject of "A State Forest Possible," 

 I ask my readers to give emphasis to the word "possible," for the reason 

 that I do not wish to presume to speak for the legislature of our State, 

 which alone has the power to make this possibility a reality. It has been 

 my earnest care during my term of office to always have in mind that I 

 am acting in an administrative capacity, and ought therefore to avoid the 

 appearance of presuming to speak for the le; 'slature. In this article I 

 am simply giving data to show that the events of the last four years have 

 really made a state forest possible. 



The events to which I refer are the negotiations which have resulted 

 in the exchange of lands now taking place between the federal government 

 and the State of Washington. It will be necessary for me to give a brief 

 outline of what the land exchange is, and the necessity therefor. Briefly 

 expressed, they are as follows: 



When Washington became a state, the federal government gave to it 

 for the support of its common schools sections 16 and 36 in each township 

 in the state. Much of this land was unsurveyed and the state could not, 

 of course, dispose of it until it had been surveyed by the federal govern- 

 ment. When the federal government created the national forests in this 

 State, the lands embraced therein were largely un; urveyed. Among these 

 lands were approximately 483,000 acres belonging to the common school 

 grant of this State. These were distributed among the different national 

 forests of the State as follows: 



Forest Area Available 



Snoqualmie 49,241.31 acres 



Washington 60,335.34 acres 



Olympic 60,065.40 acres 



Columbia (west side) 34,098.06 acres 



Rainier (west side) 27,316.41 acres 



Total west side of Cascades 231, 05U.," 2 acres 



Rainier (east side) 27.143 54 acres 



Columbia (east side) 7,892.16 acres 



Wenatchee 50.473.54 acres 



Wenaha 13,887.72 acres 



Chelan 32,402.55 acres 



Okanogan 71,332.25 acres 



Colville 33,580.25 acres 



Kaniksu . 15,520.00 acres 



Total east side Cascades 252.232.01 acres 



Grand Total 483,288.53 acres 



The federal government contended that the creating of the reserves 

 forever estopped the state from obtaining title to these lands. The legis- 

 lature of 1913 authorized the Commissioner of Public Lands to negotiate 

 an agreement with the federal government for a settlement of this claim, 

 providing such an agreement met with the approval of the Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, and the Board of State Land Commissioners. Acting under this 

 authority I spent some time in Washington, D. C., accompanied by Attorney 

 Generpl W. V. Tanner, the result being an agreement which provides that 

 the federal government will give to the state from the national forests an 

 area ^ual to that lost to the state by their creation, these lands to be 

 take in large blocks lying just inside the exterior boundaries of the forests 

 in such a position that the boundaries of the forests may be contracted 

 and the lands thrown outside. 



15 



