A WHITE MOUNTAIN PURCHASE 



GREATLY to the delight of 

 New Englanders who have for 

 some years advocated the pur- 

 chase by the Government of 

 areas in the White Mountains which 

 include points of particular scenic 

 value and interest, the National Forest 

 Reservation Commission during Sep- 

 tember approved the purchase of 85,- 

 000 acres of White Mountain forest 

 lands which include Mt. Washington, 

 Mt. Adams and Mt. Jefferson. These 

 mountains, famous for their rugged 

 beauty and very popular as health and 

 summer resorts, furnish what is re- 

 garded as the keystone or hub of the 

 White Mountain drainage system and 

 the members of the commission feel 

 that the purchase is one of the most 

 important that has been made. 



For the past three years there have 

 been almost constant negotiations for 

 these lands and at times New Eng- 

 landers, who advocated the purchase 

 and were very anxious to have the 

 Government take them over before 

 more timber was cut by private owners, 

 felt that the commission was not giv- 

 ing the matter the attention it de- 

 served. Consequently the)' are elated 

 by the successful outcome of the ne- 

 gotiations. 



The lands approved for purchase in- 

 clude two principal tracts : The first 

 comprises three State grants known as 

 the Thompson and Meserve purchase, 

 Sargent purchase, and Hadley pur- 

 chase, making in all 33,970 acres; the 

 second tract includes portions of the 

 towns of Albany and Bartlett, amount- 

 ing to 4-"), 170 acres. The two tracts 

 belonged to the same company and 

 were purchased at $8.50 an acre. 



The bulk of these lands were first 

 offered to the Government three years 

 ago at a price of $28.60 an acre. The 

 Forest Service, which is charged with 

 the examination of such lands, held 

 that the price was too high, and de- 



clined to recommend the purchase, in 

 spite of the fact that a large amount 

 of public sentiment had developed in 

 its favor. Within the past year a very 

 careful estimate was made of the stand'- 

 ing timber on both tracts, and as a 

 result of this estimate the Forest Serv- 

 ice was finally able to secure the offer 

 of the land at a price which was felt 

 to justify its purchase. 



Portions of the land contain very 

 dense and valuable stands of timber. 

 That in what is known as the Great 

 Gulf, lying on the north side of Mt. 

 Washington, between that mountain 

 and Mts. Jefferson and Adams, con- 

 sists of an unusually heavy stand of 

 spruce. This area is prominently in 

 view from all the surrounding moun- 

 tains and it has been constantly brought 

 to the attention of the commission that 

 a large part of the public desired that 

 the land might pass into the hands of 

 the Government. Altogether, these 

 two tracts contain about seventy mil- 

 lion feet of spruce and fir timber, in 

 addition to considerable quantities of 

 hardwoods, mainly beech, birch, and 

 maple. 



Another tract in which the public- 

 was deeply interested is a body of land 

 of 5,600 acres situated on the south 

 slope of Mt. Passaconaway and on the 

 east slope of Mt. Whiteface. This tract 

 lies immediately above the village of 

 \Yonalancet, a favorite New England 

 summering place, and also contains a 

 valuable body of timber. On this tract 

 there are 800 acres of virgin spruce, 

 containing about 15,000 feet to the 

 acre. This again is one of the virgin 

 tracts which public opinion has strong- 

 ly favored the Government's owning. 



Two other tracts of smaller size make 

 up the purchase. Altogether they bring 

 the Government purchase in the White 

 Mountains up to 220,000 acres, or near- 

 ly one-third of the region covered by 

 this mountain svstem. 



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