10 THE AMES FORESTER 



all doubtful in character. If a given area appears to present 

 any agricultural characteristics sufficient to warrant a home- 

 seeker in giving it serious consideration for homestead pur- 

 poses, it is left for the more detailed study and closer scrutiny, 

 such as is given to all land classified by the ' ' intensive ' ' method. 



Up to January 1, 1916, a total of about 56,000,000 acres of 

 land within National Forests had been covered by such so- 

 called "extensive" reports, and the classification had been ap- 

 proved by the Secretary of Agriculture. This work resulted in 

 about 6,000,000 acres of land being eliminated from the Na- 

 tional Forests. About 45,000,005 acres were classified as non r 

 agricultural and non-listable under the Forest Homestead Act. 

 The remaining 5,000,000 acres were patented lands, or lands 

 otherwise alienated, and were therefore not affected by the 

 classification or included in it. The reconnaissance classification 

 has worked both ways. It has resulted in retaining within 

 forests, under a specific non-listable classification, all areas 

 most clearly chiefly valuable for that purpose. It has also 

 brought out very clearly the location of the areas of doubtful 

 forest value or possible agricultural value. When a forest has 

 once been entirely covered by such reconnaissance or extensive 

 classification, the areas of doubtful forest value or of probable 

 agricultural value are all definitely and accurately determined. 

 In a great many instances the result has been to clearly demon- 

 strate that the only serious objection against retaining practi- 

 cally the entire area for National Forest purposes is the fact 

 that certain errors have been made in running the boundary 

 lines, whereby limited areas of land unsuited for forest pur- 

 poses, or desirable for farm purposes, have been improperly in- 

 cluded. In a number of instances such reconnaissance classifi- 

 cation has been followed by boundary readjustments excluding 

 the agricultural land and leaving only a few areas within the 

 forest of possible value for homestead use. Such areas are then 

 carefully examined and classified accordingly. 



The classification problem, however, is not always so easily 

 solved. In some instances, such as the Harney and Black Hills 

 National Forests in South Dakota, it will be necessary to cover 

 practically the entire forest with timber and soil survey, ac- 

 curate in details down to each 2% acre subdivision. Such work 



