76 FOREST RESERVES IN IDAHO. 



This is tlie man ^vho skins the conntry and moves on. Otherwise he 

 wouhl not relinquish his chiim, as he admittedly does at the first fa- 

 vorable opx^ortunity, to those who are seeking investments in timber 

 lands. To the real homesteader who tills the soil and builds a 

 house to live in nothing should be grudged. He is there to stay. 

 To the fraudulent homesteader who builds a shelter for the night 

 under tall timber no encouragement is due. He takes all he can get 

 and moves on. Sympathy for such a man is sympathy for one who 

 is engaged in fraudulent transactions; if sincere it is wasted, and it 

 is hard to see how it can be sincere on the part of one aaIio takes the 

 trouble to find out the facts. 



As an argument for the establishment of forest reserves in northern 

 Idaho it has never bc^en claimed that the forests there Avere important 

 as a means of regulating the Avater flow. That part of the State is 

 abundantly watered and is not concerned with questions of irrigation. 

 It is merely a matter of bringing the Government timber lands under 

 a wise and practical system of protection with a view to providing a 

 permanent supply of timber, first, for present needs, and, second, for 

 future use. The immense damage already done by forest fires in this 

 l)articular region is well known. Under forest-reserA'e management 

 the timber is protected against fire, and sim])le regulations are made 

 for lumbering, in order that the future productiveness of the forest 

 lands nvd\ be assured. Great as the mining interests of northern 

 Idaho are now, they are insignificant compared to Avhat they will be 

 in years to come. Timber near at hand is absolutely essential to the 

 ])ermanent i)rosperity of this industry, and one of the chief objects of 

 forest reserves in northern Idaho is to make sure of the forest re- 

 sources for present and future use. We Avish to prevent the theft of 

 timber and the wanton and reckless destruction of timber; and we do 

 this in the interest of the public, of the public as it is to-day, and of 

 the public as it AA'ill be in the future. 



In A^our oAA'n interAneAv, published by the Wallace Press and copied 

 by the LcAviston Journal, you say that it is your purpose to preA^enl 

 the AvithdraAA'al of any portion of the lands of Idaho that are adapted 

 to settlement and home-making purposes. If this is your only pur- 

 pose you can spare yourself all anxiety, for the policy described is 

 ]3recisely the Government's policy in its temporary withdrawals for 

 forest reserves. These Avithdrawals are based on detailed maps pre- 

 pared after careful examination in the field. The character of each 

 section is shoAAii and the fiekhvork is done by men Avho are from 

 training and exiDerience thoroughly familiar with w^estern condi- 

 tions. The peculiar difficulties of this Avork have been fully appre- 

 ciated, and in my judgment your belief that theorA' and inexperience 

 haA^e entered into the matter is a AA'holly mistaken one. I had you in 

 conference with the men — men born or raised in the West, by the 

 Avay — Avho have advised these AvithdraAAals, and it AAas evident that 

 they kncAA' thoroughly and completely the conditions; and that the 

 theory upon AA'hich you. yourself, were acting Avas an entirely mis- 

 taken one. Let me again repeat Avitli all emphasis that only those 

 lands Avhich are shoAvn by the Forest Service to be more valuable for 

 the production of timber or the protection of the Avater Aoav than for 

 agricultural purposes AA'ill be included in permanent forest reserves; 

 and that if it is afterAvards proA^en that any lands Av^ithin a foi'est 



