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by the owner before conveyance can be accepted. Sometimes the depart- 

 ment waives defects of record, should they have an expiration of limitation, 

 or otherwise in no way affect marketability. Occasionally it becomes nec- 

 essary to have tracts sent back to tax sale to clear title, a process requiring 

 from three to five years. 



The title made right, there follows the formal conveyance by deed of 

 general warranty, payment by the owner of all taxes due, payment of the 

 consideration money, and recording the deed, which vests an indefeasible 

 title in the commonwealth. 



When the state of Pennsylvania originally granted lands to individuals 

 in severalty, it did so by "warrants", which name has now come to be 

 used for the tract of land involved, as well as for the legal process. Full 

 warrants are definitely of record in the general land office, by metes and 

 bounds, with location definitely fixed. Since the state parted with its lands 

 by warrant areas, plus an allowance of six per cent, for roads, it now buys 

 them back only in the same way. For this reason no prior survey on the 

 ground is necessary to determine acreage, except in the case of partial 

 warrants, where a survey and draft will be furnished by the owner, sub- 

 ject to the test of the department's engineering division. 



The foregoing careful method of purchase has resulted in an almost 

 total absence of title suits. The fact is that only two such suits have ever 

 been brought and both were determined by the courts in favor of the 

 state. In states where titles are founded upon recent government surveys, 

 and where public abstract of title officers are maintained, all this is much 

 simpler. 



Any program involving a policy of land purchase for state forest pur- 

 poses must of necessity look to several elements of far greater future value 

 than present importance. One of these is timber. Wood products are 

 being called for in ever increasing quantities, outrunning the supply, with 

 prices keeping pace, and the great wood storehouses thousands of miles 

 away. For this reason there is an appeal to all of us to grow our own 

 wood in our own back yards, as it were. Why not? We have the land, 

 or can get it. It will never be cheaper, probably, than it now is, and the 

 need for a beginning is immediate. 



The state of Pennsylvania has thus far bought outright 1,047,626 acres, 

 for which it has paid the sum of $2,389,542.55, or an average price of about 

 $2.25 an acre. At least this much more has been spent in administration, 

 protection, planting, fixed charges, and general development. But the 

 present value of this great estate is at least from twelve to fifteen millions 

 of dollars. The policy of the state is to increase these holdings to at least 

 six million acres. 



Another element of immense future value is water power from streams 

 on state holdings. An increase in the density of timber cover means 

 better and steadier stream flow. No kind of power is so cheap as water 

 power. The increasing price of coal may very soon force a resort to this 

 too long neglected source of energy. In addition to being an inexpensive 

 source of permanent power, it can best be controlled or utilized in state 

 ownership or under complete state control. For this reason alone large 

 purchases of land by the states are justified. 





