300 Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



left in 1891 were in the West. But the 

 value of permanent Federal forests was 

 recognized in the East, so in 1911 the 

 Weeks Law was enacted to authorize 

 purchase by the Federal Government 

 of lands necessary to the protection of 

 the flow of navigable streams. The 

 Clarke-McNary Act of 1924 enlarged 

 the policy of the Weeks Law to include 

 the purchase of lands on the watersheds 

 of navigable streams for timber pro- 

 duction. Under those acts, most of the 

 national forests east of the Mississippi 

 have been established. 



The national forests are truly na- 

 tional in both purpose and value. Many 

 States do not produce enough timber 

 or the right kind for their own needs, 

 and the national forests help to supply 

 them. Water for irrigation, power, and 

 domestic purposes in many cases is sup- 

 plied by streams that rise far away in 

 national forests in other States. The 

 lamb chop served in Chicago may have 

 come from Wyoming's high ranges in 

 the national forests. Many people from 

 the Midwestern Plains spend their va- 

 cations in the cool national forests in 

 the West. Twenty-five percent of the 

 gross revenues from the sale of national 

 forest timber and other commercial 

 uses is paid to the States for distribu- 

 tion to the counties in which the na- 

 tional forests lie, to be used for roads 

 and schools. The fund is a large part 

 of the revenue of many counties. An- 

 other 10 percent is made available to 

 the Forest Service to pay part of the 

 cost of building and maintaining roads 

 and trails in the national forests. 



The forests yield a sizable income. 

 For the fiscal year that ended in June 

 1948, it was more than 25 million 

 dollars. The sum reflects the greater 

 demand for timber from the national 

 forests; in 1940 the income was $5,- 

 860,000. In that year, income was 48 

 percent of the fund appropriated for 

 the protection and management of the 

 national forests; in 1948 it was almost 

 100 percent. 



The national forests are forests in the 

 larger sense. They are not just areas 

 covered with trees; they are a com- 



posite of trees, brush, grass, water, wild- 

 life, scenery. Each of these elements has 

 its own value; together they give the 

 forest a value much greater than that 

 of a producer of wood. 



By direction of the Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture, when the national forests 

 were placed under his administration 

 in 1905, "All land is to be devoted to 

 its most productive use for the perma- 

 nent good of the whole people, and 

 not for the temporary benefit of indi- 

 viduals or companies . . . and where 

 conflicting interests must be reconciled 

 the question will always be decided 

 from the standpoint of the greatest 

 good of the greatest number in the 

 long run." 



The national forests are managed 

 on the principle of multiple use, a 

 simple enough concept that often is 

 hard to apply because of the impact of 

 one use on another and the striving of 

 groups interested in one use to get pri- 

 ority for that one use. The essence of 

 multiple-use management is to make 

 each area yield the maximum number 

 of benefits and to fit each use to the 

 other. Exclusive right-of-way is given 

 to one use only when that use is clearly 

 dominant. 



Thus, timber-cutting practices may 

 have to be varied from those designed 

 solely for wood production in order to 

 increase water yield or stabilize water 

 flows. Similar variations occur where 

 recreation or scenic values are impor- 

 tant. Some openings must be left or 

 made in forests and forest plantations 

 to benefit the wildlife. Grazing in the 

 South may be fostered without hurting 

 timber production by proper manage- 

 ment. Grazing and wildlife use must 

 here and there be adjusted to each 

 other. And so on. 



Public understanding and support of 

 the multiple-use plan of management 

 has grown in late years. When some 

 stockmen proposed that lands used for 

 grazing in the national forests be sold 

 to the holders of grazing permits, 

 many people protested and gave vigor- 

 ous endorsement of the multiple value 

 of the national forests. 



