FIRST PURCHASE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN LANDS 



UNDER THE WEEKS LAW 



White Mountain region. Kings Ra- 

 the Castellated Ridge are all on this 

 tract, and it also affords many corn- 

 manding views of the high peaks of the 

 Presidential Range. During the past 

 thirty years the Appalachian Mountain 

 Club has developed a network of trails 

 on the north slopes of this range, u 

 greater portion being on this tract. 

 Thousands of persons tramp these 

 trails every year. It was considered 

 by the Commission that in no other part 

 of the White Mountains would the edu- 

 cational effect of a demonstration in 

 forestry be so great. 



The Connecticut River is by far the 

 most important navigable stream orig- 

 mating in the White Mountains and 

 three-fourths of this tract drains into 

 that stream. 



with the lands authorized for pur- 

 c h ase at the mee ting of the Commission 

 a week pre vious authority has now been 

 g i ven for the acqu j s ition of 72,000 acres 

 f n t i ie White Mountains 



Thfi land firgt hased was what 



ig known ^ ^ Purchase l{ 

 just eagt of ^ Carter R and ^ 

 thfi watershed of the wild fc ver< Th f s 

 rised 33 800 acres t $5 an acre 

 and wag the Q th Hasti 



Lumber ^ * ^ 5QO acr j s 



m Bethlehem ^ Franconia belonging 

 tQ the Berlin Mms C ^ 



bought at $4 an acre. The Bean Pur- 

 ^ u -inno A 



~ haSC WES SW6pt by fire m 19 3 and 

 9,000 acres damaged, but since then it 

 hag been u 5 ote ' cted and is con . 



sidere ] b he ^ Qrest Seryice ffi j j 

 to be a y / luable a isition . 



Options have been secured on 20,000 

 ^cres in Benton and Easton and Chief 

 Fore ster Henry S. Graves left on June 

 30 to make a careful examination of 

 them - He was joined by expert lum- 

 berman Eugene S. Bruce, of the Forest 

 Service, a few days later. More or less 

 other land has been offered and is de- 

 sired, but the Forest Service officials 

 consider that the price asked is too high. 



purchase of 30,365 acres of 

 land in the White Mountains of 

 New Hampshire was authorized 

 on Tune 19 by the National Forest 

 Reservation Commission. The land is 

 to be purchased under the Weeks Law 

 which provides for the acquisition of 

 lands by the Federal Government on 

 the headwaters of navigable streams, 

 A report previously rendered by the 

 Geological Survey showed that these 

 lands were of importance in protecting 

 the flow of the Connecticut and Andro- 

 scoggin Rivers. 



The lands purchased include a tract 

 of 29,570 acres at $8 an acre, owned by 

 the Berlin Timberland Company of Ber- 

 lin, N. H., acreage to be determined by 

 a horizontal survey to be made by the 

 United States. The Commission also 

 authorized the purchase of 795 acres 

 belonging to Mrs. E. M. Libbey, of 

 Littleton, N. H. This tract consists of 

 an undivided interest in certain lots 

 owned with the Berlin Timberland 

 Company and forming a part of the 

 trac purchased from that company 



The land purchased consists for the 

 most part of valuable timber-producing 

 lands on the north slopes of the Presi- 

 dential Range. In addition to their 

 value for their standing timber and for 

 timber production they have other im- 

 portant advantages which make them 



wi'? g M 6 m ? de f ab i e f any m the 

 White Mountains for the purposes oi 



the Week' T aw The tract lia been 



. ,f , / [ ?act has ' - en 



carefully protected from hre for a num- 



so that the ground where 

 he mature timber was removed a num- 

 ber of years ago is now fully restocked 

 with a good qualitv of young growth. 



The nearness of all parts of the tract 

 to the railroad adds materially to its 

 advantages Due in part to its near- 

 ? to railroads and in part to its nat- 

 ural scenery this tract is undoubt- 

 edly one of the best known of any in 

 the White Mountains, containing many 

 of the most prominent features of the 

 vine, The Ravine of the Cascades, and 



440 



