NATIONAL FOREST RESOURCES 171 



may be cut with benefit and in accordance with cer- 

 tain well-established forestry principles, is for sale 

 and is advertised and offered as demand arises. 

 The outstanding feature of government timber 

 sales js the fact that only the stumpage is sold, the 

 title of the land remaining with the Government. 

 The timber is sold in any quantity, so long as the 

 sale is in accordance with well-established policy. 

 Large sales require a large initial investment for 

 constructing a railroad or other means for taking 

 out the timber, and may even require the construc- 

 tion of a common carrier from the market to com- 

 paratively inaccessible regions. 



Government Timber Sale Policy. The National 

 Forest timber sale policy, first of all, aims to pre- 

 vent the loss of this valuable public property 

 through forest fires. This phase of the policy, how- 

 ever, is covered under the chapter on protection. 

 Next, it aims to utilize the ripe timber which can 

 be marketed and to cut it in such a way as to insure 

 the restocking of the land with young timber and 

 the continuance of forest production. The price at 

 which timber is sold represents, as required by 

 statute, the appraised market value and a proper 

 return to the public which owns it. It is disposed 



