A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 639 



The various acts sanctioning public-land disposal encouraged pro- 

 gressive removal of the best of the timberland from the public domain. 

 The selection of land for private ownership naturally took the cream 

 of the timber, both as to accessibility and as to stand per acre. The 

 withdrawal of the national forests, likewise, was specifically directed 

 toward the selection of the best timberland then remaining in public 

 ownership. The working out of the various land grants with their 

 lieu selection privileges further tended to eliminate from public 

 ownership desirable forest land. Thus the timberlands now remain- 

 ing in the public domain are the residue from a century and a half of 

 culling for private ownership and the withdrawal of slightly more 

 than 140 million acres as national forests. The extent to which this 

 culling has gone will be appreciated from the fact that of the 

 1,441,436,160 acres originally in the public domain only 173,318,246 

 acres still remain, and of this remnant only a little more than 2% 

 percent is classified as commercial timberland. 



THE PRESENT PUBLIC DOMAIN 



Slightly more than 23 million acres of the public domain, the un- 

 reserved and unappropriated Federal land, are classified as forest 

 land; only 4,629,000 acres of it, however, supports a stand of com- 

 mercial timber. The remainder of this forested acreage is occupied 

 by timber too poor in quality or quantity or too inaccessible to jus- 

 tify exploitation. Large areas below the altitudinal range of com- 

 mercial timber support only a scattered scrubby tree growth ; included 

 among these are large areas of pinon or juniper in the Southwest. 

 Other areas once were covered with commercial timber but as a result 

 of fire and excessive cutting are now incapable of restocking naturally 

 within a reasonable period. A small part is alpine in character. 

 Substantially all the timberlands, both commercial and noncommer- 

 cial, have a high value for watershed protection. 



Perhaps 50 million acres of land in addition to the 23 million acres 

 classified as forest land is of great importance, because of the character 

 of its cover, in controlling erosion and stream flow. This includes 

 such areas as the brush fields of California and the aspen-brush areas 

 in Utah and south Idaho. 



The public domain is very largely confined to the 11 far- western 

 States. Table 1 shows that of the 173,318,246 acres remaining only 

 1,059,867 are located east of the one hundred and fourth meridian. 

 The fact that only 22,000 acres of the public-domain lands in the East 

 are classified as commercial timberlands, and that no comprehensive 

 examination of the remainder has been made to determine their true 

 influence on stream flow and erosion, precludes the possibility of 

 specific recommendations for their disposal. 



