NATIONAL FOREST WORK 



Cruising Southwestern Forests 



The task of estimating the present stand 

 of saw timber on each township and section 

 of national forest land in the states of Ari- 

 zona, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Florida 

 has been undertaken. It will probably take 

 until the close of the year 1912 to complete 

 the work, but when it is done the govern- 

 ment will know definitely how much timber 

 can safely be cut from the national forests 

 in these states, and just where the timber is 

 that can be most advantageously sold. 



When a forest has once been covered by 

 such a reconnaissance, purchasers and forest 

 officers can agree on negotiations for timber 

 sales, advertisements of the timber can be 

 placed bids, made, and contracts let. Up to 

 the present time, in Arizona, all the saw 

 timber on the Coconino forest has been 

 cruised, including the Grand Canyon division ; 

 all on the Prescott; more than half of the 

 Sitgreaves, about one-fifth of the Apache; in 

 New Mexico, the Gallinas Division of the 

 Lincoln, and half of the Pecos. Field parties 

 are now at work in Arkansas on the Arkansas 

 National Forest, and in Florida on the Choc- 

 tawhatchee. 



During the present field season, it is antici- 

 pated that the estimates covering the Apache, 

 Gila, and Pecos, in New Mexico, and the 

 Mount Graham Division of the Crook, in 

 Arizona, can be completed, and that for the 

 Manzano, in New Mexico, which was esti- 

 mated in 1908, thoroughly revised. During 

 the winter of 1910 and 1911 undoubtedly the 

 Choctowhatchee and Ocala, in Florida, and the 

 Arkansas and Ozark, in Arkansas, can be fin- 

 ished. Thus, it is likely that by 1913 all saw 

 timber in District 3, which comprises the 

 forests of the south and southwest, will be 

 cruised and mapped so that purchasers can 

 negotiate sales promptly and the government 

 will know just what timber should be sold 

 first and ITOW much it can safely dispose of. 



Large California Timber Sale 



With the purpose of contributing to the 

 development of northwestern California, the 

 Department of Agriculture has offered to sell 

 about 1,000,000,000 feet of timber in the Trin- 

 ity National Forest in that state. This is 

 said to be the largest output of the national 

 woodlands ever offered for sale at one time. 



In order to encourage the building of a 

 railroad, the department decided to sell all 



timber which can be safely cut and removed 

 on the north and east sides of Grouse Creek 

 and of Hay Fork of Trinity River, covering 

 an area of 200,000 acres. 



The government will not permit a monop- 

 oly by one company of all the timber in a 

 given locality or place it in private hands for 

 speculation. 



Changes of Boundary 



The President has signed a proclamation 

 eliminating 383,809 acres from the Coronadc 

 National Forest in Arizona, and. adding 15,120 

 acres. These changes are the result of a 

 careful field examination made last summer 

 by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture in pursuance of a general plan for 

 the correction of all national forest bound- 

 aries. 



Another Presidential proclamation elim- 

 inates 16,012 acres from the Deerlodge Na- 

 tional Forest, Montana, and transfers approx- 

 imately 33,358 acres from the Deerlodge to 

 the Beaverhead National Forest. 



A Contribution to Silvics 



The dendrological laboratory of the United 

 States Forest Service has completed a study 

 which shows that the conditions of soil and 

 site which affect the height growth of a given 

 species of tree affect also the length of the 

 wood fibers. Foresters are familiar with the 

 fact that the same species of tree grows very' 

 differently in height in different situations, 

 and also develops considerable differences of 

 wood. Fr this reason, they always seek to 

 discover the exact conditions under which a 

 tree will have to grow if the attempt is made 

 to use it in forestry. They distinguish very 

 carefully what is called "the quality of lo- 

 cality," which is the technical name for these 

 conditions in a given case. The discovery 

 made by the Forest Service demonstrates, for 

 the species that was studied, that the quality 

 of locality also determines \\li.thcr the av- 

 erage length i >f wood fibers will In- greater 

 or less than the average length for all con- 

 ditions. The better the situation, the longer 

 the wood fibers. 



