26d 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



January 



past year 377 sales have been effected, 

 from which $58,436.19 were realized 

 from such sales ; in addition to which 

 there is now a large amount arising 

 from such sales in the hands of the re- 

 ceivers of public monies at the local 

 land offices. This is the largest 

 amount thus far sold since such sales 

 were authorized. These sales, com- 

 bined with the privilege allowed set- 

 tlers to take without cost for their in- 

 dividual use timber from the forest re- 

 serves for domestic purposes, have re- 

 sulted in clearing the reserves of much 

 dead and down timber, and in every 

 way improved their condition. A 

 much larger revenue might be obtain- 

 ed from the forest reservations if graz- 

 ing and other privileges, such as the 

 location of saw mills, hotels, summer 

 resorts, etc., within the reservations 

 were made to pay a reasonable amount 

 for such privileges. This Association 

 has always contended that the forest 

 reservations of the United States could 

 and ought to be made self-sustaining, 

 and that all the revenues derived there- 

 from should be expended in developing 

 the reservations with the idea of con- 

 stantly improving the character of the 

 forest and thus insuring adequate tim- 

 ber supplies for future generations. 

 \\V therefore urge that all monies de- 

 rived from the sale of timber on forest 

 reservations, or revenues of any de- 

 scription from the sale of privileges 

 within the reservations should be set 

 aside as a special fund in the Treasury 

 of the United States, to be paid out 

 upon proper requisition of the head of 

 the department administering the re- 

 serves to be expended for the improve- 

 ment of the reservations. 



We also wish to renew our recom- 

 mendations, contained in the resolu- 

 tions which were adopted at the annu- 

 al meeting of this Association in De- 

 cember, 1903, concerning the modifica- 

 tion of the mineral land laws, of the 

 lieu land-selection law, and the repeal 

 of the Timber and Stone Act. 



CONSOLIDATION OF FOREST WORK OF 

 THE UNITED STATES. 



When there is such unanimity of 

 opinion as exists concerning the neces- 

 sity of consolidating all the forest 



work of the Federal Government in 

 the Bureau of Forestry, it seems hard- 

 ly possible that the necessary legisla- 

 tion should be much longer delayed, 

 and we have great gratification in re- 

 porting that a bill for transferring the 

 management and control of the United 

 States Forest Reserves from the Gen- 

 eral Land Office to the Bureau of For- 

 estry passed the House of Representa- 

 tives at this Congress on the I2th of 

 December, 1904. With the President, 

 both the Secretaries of Agriculture 

 and of the Interior, and the Commis- 

 sioner of the General Land Office, all 

 uniting to urge this legislation, we may 

 reasonably expect that the Senate will 

 concur in making the proposed legis- 

 lation a law. (Query: Does the pres- 

 ent bill provide for anything more 

 than the transfer of the reserves to the 

 Bureau of Forestry?). 



IRRIGATION. 



General interest in the work of the 

 Association has been greatly stimulat- 

 ed in the West through the active sur- 

 veys and construction of large works 

 of reclamation under the terms of the 

 Act of June 17, 1902. This Act sets 

 aside the proceeds of the disposal of 

 public lands, about $25,000,000 at pres- 

 ent. This money is being used in the 

 construction of large irrigation works, 

 the cost of which is to be returned to 

 the government in ten annual install- 

 ments and the money used over again. 

 The necessity of protecting these 

 works from floods and from the wash- 

 ing of earth from the hillsides has em- 

 phasized the need of good forest man- 

 agement. It is believed that in the 

 future the work of the Association 

 will be of very great advantage in the 

 carrying out of the purpose and intent 

 of this Reclamation Act. 



FOREST WORK OF THE STATES. 



As indicative of the growing inter- 

 est and strength of the forestry move- 

 ment, the co-operation of the Bureau, 

 at the request of the states, with the 

 states of California, Massachusetts, 

 and New Hampshire is significant. In 

 California the joint work of the state 

 and the Bureau of Forestry in study- 

 ing its forests has been completed and 





