AJiUrci'LTnUL AlMMinlMUATlON HII.U l'*'-^- 235 



ji former disf iiii^iiisluMl citizen of votir Stute. Mr. Clmirmnn. tho nldor 

 Wt'ycrliaiiscr. who 1ms Imm'Ii oillc*! Anirrirn's • lutiil)rr kifi^. " lie 

 was aski'd whrdior he evor lost money in Imyirj^ tinihiT and he 

 replied (liat the oidv time lie lost money was when he did not Imy 

 limherhmd. 'rh«»se forest hinds that tlie (lovernmi-nt has hou^ht 

 since 101 1 have, in the a«^<;re^ate. aheady a|)|)reciate<| in value to n 

 considerahle de;;r«»e. Two summers a|;o I itisnected an area in the 

 Pisi;idi National Forest in Xorth Carolina, wliere we had made n 

 sale of ohl poplar, auk, and chestnut stumj)a{;e. 1 f(»und that the 

 timher sale, which cov(>red ahout one-third of one of the tracts 

 purchased, would return more than the entire cost of the whole tract , 

 timher and land comhined. and leave us two-thirds of the tract 

 still uncut. 



Mr. HircH.vNAN. Takin«; all of these pucchnses together, will the 

 sale of timher pav all the overhead charges as well as charges for 

 carint; for the Innu ( 



Cohtnel (.iKKKi-KV. Yes; sir; excluding charges for special improve- 

 ments, like roads. 



Mr. lUcHANAN. Then tiie Government would get free the growth 

 of timher after reforesting^ 



Colonel (iKKKi.KV. Yes. sir. 



Mr. BucuAXAX. You think it would pay all the overhead charges i 



Colonel Gkeklf:v. Yes, sir. 



Mr. BiiiiAXAN. And all the Government would lose would he the 

 interest on the money C 



Colonel Greeley. That is all. The Government would get the 

 further henefit of the appreciation in timber values, as well as the 

 protection of the watersheds. 



In the purchase units which the National Forest Reservation Com- 

 mission has approved, about 31 per cent of the area has been bought. 

 It is our policv to have enough purchase units within which lands 

 may be ouered to maintain a considerable degree of competition in 

 the offerings to the Government. That is one reason why we have 

 been able to get these lands at relatively low prices. We now have 

 outstanding offers in those units which afjgregate 801,000 acres and 

 between $5,000,000 and Sti.OOO^OOO in tlie oflored price. We can 

 probably get that land at considerably less than the offered prices 

 uy making a careful appraisal, finding out exactly what there is, 

 and then negotiating with the owner for a favorable option, witli the 

 owner knowin*; that his option will be considered \n competition 

 with options obtained from other owners in that purchase unit or in 

 other units and that only what we regard as distincllv desirable 

 purchases will be submitted to the National Forest Reservation 

 Commission. 



EDUCATIONAL VALUE. 



There is another effect of this purchase work that I want to speak 

 of, and that is its educational value. We find in each of these regions 

 where we establish a national forest and put into effect a system of 

 fire protection and a conservative system of cutting tiiiiber, and have 

 rangers and supervisors on the ground, that inside of six or ei^ht 

 years you can negin to see the effects upon the local people. The 

 national forest becomes more or less a center of organizecl fire pro- 

 tection. We endeavor to cooperate with the owners of adjoining 



