1090 A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In Florida all of the land granted except 1,187,342 acres has been 

 conveyed to private owners under various legislative acts. Many of 

 the deeds of conveyance prior to 1877 have never been recorded in 

 the county records, but complete records have been kept since that 

 year. The State forester has no record of the location of forest lands 

 remaining from the original grants. The State has neither protected 

 nor developed the forest lands. 



The superintendent of forestry of Louisiana is authorized by law 

 to examine Federal grant lands remaining unsold and to report upon 

 their suitability for State forests. The work has never been done, 

 on account of difficulty in securing the records showing where the 

 lands are located. 



The University of Mississippi has title to 23,000 acres designated 

 in 1932 as the University State Forest. The area has been protected 

 from fire since 1927, and the 1932 legislature authorized a contract 

 with the State forestry commission for its protection and management. 

 Mississippi holds about 500,000 acres of common school grant lands, 

 mostly in 640-acre tracts. Much of the area is under lease, but only 

 about one third is used for farming. It is estimated that about 

 300,000 of the 500,000 acres is forest land. The State forester has 

 proposed a plan of handling whereby ultimate returns from forest 

 products would, he believes, exceed present returns from rents. 



In Idaho, of the 3,632,000 acres in original Federal grants, 1,150,000 

 acres is estimated as having been originally forest land. The State 

 now has 958,000 acres of this forest acreage left, 854,000 acres of which 

 is commercial forest land, among the best in the State. Present 

 values are appreciated by the public. The areas are being protected 

 from fire, and cutting is roughly in accordance with Forest Service 

 standards. 



Federal land grants to Montana amounted to 5,870,000 acres, of 

 which 4,000,000 acres are left. In 1927 the legislature provided that 

 State timberland should not be subject to sale, but the timber only. 

 From the best information it appears that of the State land 439,000 

 acres is classified as forest land, of which 409,000 acres is commercial 

 forest. Little forest land has been lost from Federal grant land 

 through earlier sales. Montana has a fine forest property, largely 

 commercial forest, regulatory laws governing and guarding it, and an 

 appreciation of its value. 



Of the 4,434,000 acres of original Federal grant land in Colorado, 

 about 154,000 acres of forest land remains in State ownership. Tim- 

 ber sold from the land in recent years is cut to a 10-inch diameter 

 limit. The State land board has authority to sell timber and other 

 products and may request the advice and assistance of the State 

 forester but is not required to do so. It also has authority to sell any 

 of the public lands of the State not reserved for some special purpose. 



In South Dakota, of the original 3,434,000 acres of Federal grant 

 land, 61,000 acres is retained by the State in the Ouster State Park, 

 and of this 55,000 acres are forested. The area is well protected and 

 administered as a park. No timber is cut except 250,000 board feet 

 per year for improvements needed. In addition to the above, 11,000 

 acres of scattered forest land belongs to the State. Sales on these 

 lands, when they are not too far from the headquarters of Ouster 

 State Park, are supervised to insure good forestry practice. 



In Kansas and Nebraska the Federal grants consisted almost en- 

 tirely of farm and grazing land. 



