45 8 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



In the letter recommending the establishment of the reserves, 

 the Forestry Commission stated that it fully recognized the fact 

 that the forest reserves previously established and now proposed can 

 uot be maintained unless a plan is adopted under which their bound- 

 aries shall be so modified as to take from them all land better suited 

 for agriculture than for the production of forests, and under which 

 their timber can be made available for domestic, mining, and com- 

 mercial purposes, and valuable minerals can be freely sought and 

 mined within their boundaries. The commission also stated that 

 it believed that the solution of this difficult problem would be 

 made easier if the reserve areas were increased, as the greater the 

 number of people interested in drawing supplies from the re- 

 served territories, or in mining in them, the greater would be the 

 demand on Congress for the enactment of laws securing their proper 

 administration. " For this reason," said the commission, " it is the 

 unanimous opinion of the commission that the establishment by 

 proclamation of the reserves described above is now a matter of the 



