xliv INTRODUCTION 



years old; that large expenditures have been made 

 and must necessarily be made every year for equip- 

 ment and improvements before the resources could 

 even be used ; and that an efficient organization had 

 to be built up to handle the business, we must con- 

 fess that the receipts are really a wonderful show- 

 ing. 



When the Forest Reserves were taken over by 

 the Government it could not be expected that they 

 would yield a revenue at the very outset, nor could 

 it be expected that even in the long space of twenty- 

 five years they could be made self-supporting. 

 The reasons for this are many. They are located 

 for the most part in rugged, inaccessible mountains. 

 In the case of almost every Forest a great deal of 

 money had to be expended for roads, trails, tele- 

 phone lines, fences, bridges, ranger stations and 

 other cabins, lookout structures, fire lines, and 

 many other improvements before the resources 

 could even be used. Many of the resources were 

 practically locked up ; there were no roads by which 

 to get them out of the wilderness. During the fis- 

 cal year 1916 alone there were built 227 miles of 

 roads, 1,975 miles of trails, 2,124 miles of telephone 

 lines, 89 miles of fire lines, 81 lookout structures, 40 



