NATIONAL FOREST WORK 



127 



conditions are such that artificial reforest- 

 ation will be resorted to in order to es- 

 tablish a satisfactory new stand. Taking 

 care of an existing stand without pro- 

 vision for the growth of a new supply 

 when all that is now growing is gone is 

 not forestry but enlightened lumbering and 

 no more. The forest service is not merely 

 protecting the present stock of timber on 

 the national forests in order to sell it off 

 when opportunity arises; it is practicing 

 forestry upon them. It is the policy of the 

 government to put to use the timber which 

 is mature and to protect carefully the trees 

 worth leaving for future growth, to replace 

 promptly by new growth timber which is 

 cut and utilized, and to extend the forest 

 by artificial sowing or seeding over the 

 areas stripped of timber by previous fires. 

 With the further development of forestry 

 many stands will be clear cut and re- 

 stocked by artificial seeding or planting. 

 So far but little of this has been done ex- 

 cept to supplement natural reproduction. 

 The efforts of the forest service in artifi- 

 cial reproduction have been largely con- 

 fined to the extension of forests on land on 

 which the forest has been destroyed by fire. 



The timber cut under free-use permits 

 represented about 21.6 per cent of the total 

 cut of the year, or 104,796,000 board feet, 

 valued at $176,166.51. 



The problems of reforestation in the 

 national forests involve the replacement of 

 the forest by new growth after the removal 

 of the timber to be cut and reforestation 

 of land which has been cleared in the past 

 by fires, lumbering and other agencies. 

 The service maintains a number of nur- 

 series, the principal ones of which have an 

 annual productive capacity at present of 

 16,550,000 seedlings. Seeding and plant- 

 ing was done during the year on 106 of 

 the national forests and a total of 9,745 

 acres was sown and planted. Thus far 

 this work has been to a considerable ex- 

 tent experimental. 



Experiments have also been carried on 

 in thinning to determine the increased 

 rate of growth and whether a better qual- 

 ity of timber is produced. The beginnings 

 made in 1909 and the years before in re- 

 connaissance studies on national forests 

 were carried forward more extensively. 

 These timber estimate studies are made 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the re- 

 sources of the forests and are used as a 

 data for outlining a plan for their future 

 management. Investigations of insect in- 

 festation and diseases of forest trees were 

 carried on as in previous years in co-oper- 

 ation with the Bureau of Entomology and 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



During the year the benefits of proper 

 range control, the needs of national forest 

 administration and the ultimate effect of 

 this administration upon the range and 

 live stock district were increasingly real- 

 ized by stock men who used the forests. 



Of the 146 national forests In the United 

 States exclusive of Alaska, six afford no 

 grazing for domestic animals. The re- 

 maining 140 forests were under grazing 

 administration. The total number of ani- 

 mals grazed under permits showed a fall- 

 ing off of 2.75 per cent as compared with 

 the previous year. This was due prima- 

 rily to the decrease in the grazing area be- 

 cause of eliminations either made or con- 

 templated. 



An investigation has been begun to de- 

 termine the character of all lands within 

 the forests, the class of stock to which 

 each natural grazing unit is best adapted, 

 the natural periods of use for grazing pur- 

 poses, the undergrazed, fully grazed, and 

 overstocked ranges, the areas upon which 

 poisonous plants abound, and the areas in- 

 fested with range-destroying rodents. 

 Such a reconnaissance of a forest, when 

 completed, will furnish a reliable basis for 

 the preparation of a grazing working plan, 

 which will be used as a guide in the allot- 

 ment of grazing privileges, the determina- 

 tion of improved methods of range con- 

 trol, and the improvement of the ranges. 

 The report of the condition of the animals 

 in the Wichita and Grand Canyon national 

 game preserves, both of which are located 

 within national forests, is most favorable, 

 both as regards numbers and increase. 

 The buffalo herd on the Wichita preserve 

 is in excellent condition. 



The construction work of the year com- 

 prised 2,225 miles of trails, 320 miles of 

 roads, 1,888 miles of telephone lines, 65 

 bridges, 563 miles of fences, 181 miles of 

 fire lines, 464 cabins and barns and 51 

 corrals. This was an increase of 25 per 

 cent over the previous year in the mileage 

 of communication lines and protection 

 constructed, and a reduction in the num- 

 ber of buildings of 20 per cent and in 

 miles of fences of 28 per cent. 



The appropriation for permanent im- 

 provement on the national forests was 

 $600,000. For the fiscal year 1911, how- 

 ever, the amount available for this work 

 is only $275,000. On this point the for- 

 ester says: "While it is impossible to 

 equip the forests offhand, by the expendi- 

 ture of a great sum, with a thoroughly 

 well planned and effective equipment of 

 the various kinds of permanent improve- 

 ments needed, a much larger amount than 

 is now available could be used to advant- 

 age in carrying out plans already matured 

 for such equipment." He then sets forth 

 the advantage of systematic development 

 according to a well conceived plan such 

 as has been made for each forest. Of this 

 plan he says: 



"These plans contemplate what may be 

 called the primary system of improve- 

 ments. Subsequently these improvements 

 will be required to be supplemented by 

 the development of a secondary system to 

 provide for intensive use of all parts of 



