ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 15 



President and by the executive officers concerned. Finally, the act of February 

 1, 1905 (33 Stat.. 628). transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture entire 

 jurisdiction over the National Forests, except in matters of surveying and 

 passage of title to land. This act was as follows: 



The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall, from and after the pas- 

 sage of this act, execute or cause to be executed all laws affecting public lands 

 heretofore or hereafter reserved under the provisions of section twenty-four of 

 the act entitled "An act to repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other pur- 

 poses," approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and acts sup- 

 plemental to and amendatory thereof, after such lands have been so reserved, 

 excepting such laws as affect the surveying, prospecting, locating, appropriating, 

 entering, relinquishing, reconveying, certifying, or patenting of any such lands. 



THE FOREST SERVICE AND THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



ESTABLISHMENT. 



The Secretary of Agriculture is empowered by Congress to " make such rules 

 and regulations, and to establish such service as will insure the objects of 

 such reservations (National Forests), namely, to regulate their occupancy and 

 use. and to preserve the forests from destruction." Under the provisions of 

 this act the Secretary has made and published regulations relating to the 

 protection and use of the National Forests, and has established the Forest 

 Service to carry such regulations into effect. 1 



PURPOSES OF ADMINISTRATION. 



The regulations and instructions for the use of the National Forests given in 

 this manual are in accordance with the organic acts and with the various sup- 

 plementary and amendatory laws passed since June 4. 1897. They embody the 

 general policy laid down for the Forest Service by the Secretary of Agriculture 

 in his letter to the Forester dated February 1, 1905 : 



" In the administration of the forest reserves it must be clearly borne in mind 

 that all land is to be devoted to its most productive use for the permanent good 

 of the whole people and not for the temporary benefit of individuals or com- 

 panies. All the resources of forest reserves are for use, and this use must be 

 brought about in a thoroughly prompt and businesslike manner, under such 

 restrictions only as will insure the permanence of these resources. The vital 

 importance of forest reserves to the great industries of the Western States will 

 be largely increased in the near future by the continued steady advance in set- 

 tlement and development. The permanence of the resources of the reserves is 

 therefore indispensable to continued prosperity, and the policy of this depart- 

 ment for their protection and use will invariably be guided by this fact, always 

 bearing in mind that the conservative use of these resources in no way conflicts 

 with their permanent value. 



" You will see to it that the water, wood, and forage of the reserves are con- 

 served and wisely used for the benefit of the home builder first of all, upon 

 whom depends the best permanent use of lauds and resources alike. The con- 

 tinued prosperity of the agricultural, lumbering, mining, and live-stock interests 

 is directly dependent upon a permanent and accessible supply of water, wood, 

 and forage as well as upon the present and future use of these resources under 

 businesslike regulations enforced with promptness, effectiveness, and common 

 sense. In the management of each reserve local questions will be decided upon 

 local grounds; the dominant industry will be considered first, but with as little 

 restriction to minor industries as may be possible; sudden changes in industrial 



1 Tho public lands are held in trust for the whole people, not for the people of the 

 States within which they are located. The Government has in its lauds all the rights 

 of an individual proprietor to maintain its possession and prosecute trespassers. It may 

 deal with them as an individual may deal with his lands. It may sell or withhold them 

 from sale or settlement. It may absolutely prohibit or fix the terms on which they may 

 be vised. The constitutional declaration that " Congress shall have power to dispose of 

 and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or the property 

 belonging to the United States " (Art. IV, sec. 3) places in Congress authority and dis- 

 cretion to exercise the above rights and powers : and Congress may therefore reserve or 

 authorize the President to reserve public lands as National Forests without the consent 

 of th" State within whose borders they lie. (From decision of United States" Supreme 

 Court, Light i: United States, 220 U. S.. 523, and cases therein cited.) 



