CHAPTER II 



NATIONAL FOREST, STATE, AND PRIVATE 

 GRAZING LANDS 



THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



In 1891, in the face of the threatened destruction of the public 

 range and alhed resources, Congress authorized the President 

 to set aside " Forest Reserves," as the National Forests were 

 then called, in order to develop and preserve the timber, the 

 forage supply, and the other resources of the Forests. 



The " Yellowstone Park Reserve " was the first created. 

 Since then many others have been set aside, and on June 30, 

 192 1, the gross area of forest lands within the boundaries of the 

 National Forests was 156,666,045 acres, including the Forests 

 in Alaska. Most of these lands lie at elevations too high for 

 successful farming and are valuable chiefly for the timber and 

 forage they produce, and for watershed purposes. Of the gross 

 acreage, at least two-thirds is used each season for the grazing 

 of livestock. 



Object of Creating the National Forests. — In the creation 

 of the National Forests the aim" was so to administer their vast 

 resources as to give all persons an equal opportunity to enjoy 

 them, and at the same time to conserve and perpetuate their 

 resources by proper use. That continues to be the aim. In 

 addition to the broader economic reasons for the creation of 

 National Forests, there are many local reasons for the Nation's 

 possessing such Forests, as, for instance, the proper protec- 

 tion of the home seeker, the protection of local properties, and 

 the prevention of unfair competition. It is only through proper 

 control by the Government that the resources of the National 

 Forests, estimated to have a value in the neighborhood of two 

 billion dollars, can be rented or sold on a fair and equitable basis. 

 The policy initiated by the Secretary of Agriculture in his letter 



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