142 



The National Geographic Magazine 



There is still land to be conquered ; 

 and it is good to know that when these 

 unknown places are found and the flags 

 of discovery are planted, that with the 



help of the sun and modern chemistry, we 

 will all be able to view with the explorer 

 what had once been forbidden and mys- 

 terious territory. 



NOTES ON THE FOREST SERVICE 



THE Forest Service of the United 

 States has under its control to- 

 day property which exceeds in 

 value all the forts, the arsenals, the war- 

 ships, and the navy-yards controlled by 

 the War and Nav}' Departments com- 

 bined. The number of forest reserves 

 in various parts of the country, but 

 mainly in the far West, is over 100, and 

 the number is being continually in- 

 creased. The present area of these re- 

 serves is over 125,000,000 acres, an area 

 equal to that of all the north Atlantic 

 and middle Atlantic states as far south as 

 Virginia. The approximate value of the 

 present forest reserves may be estimated 

 as follows : 

 Stumpage value of 330 billion 



feet of timber at $2 per 1000. . $660,000,000 

 no million acres, capable of pro- 

 ducing commercial forest, at $1 



per acre 1 10,000,000 



no million acres of range for 

 grazing live stock, aX lYz cents 

 per acre (capitalized at 5 per 



cent) 30,000,000 



83 million acre-feet of water for 

 irrigation purposes, at 10 cents 

 per acre-foot (capitalized at s 



per cent) 166,000,000 



Three million horse-power-ca- 

 pable of being developed from 

 water in reserves, at $10 per 

 horse-power (capitalized at 5 



per cent) 600,000,000 



Estimated value of occupancy 

 and use of reserve land, prod- 

 ucts and resources additional 



to the above 5,000,000 



Permanent improvements now on 

 the reserves (roads, trails, 

 cabins, telephones, etc.) . 5,000,000 



Total $1,576,000,000 



Less 10 per cent for private hold- 

 ings 157,600,000 



$1,418,400,000 



NEED OF FOREST RESERVES IN THE EAST 



But while the far West is literally 

 dotted with forest reserves,, the East has 

 almost no reserves. There is, however, 

 now pending in Congress a bill, already 

 passed by the Senate, which would create 

 a White Mountain forest reserve in the 

 State of New Hampshire, to comprise ap- 

 proximately 812,000 acres. There are, 

 of course, no public lands in New Hamp- 

 shire, and therefore the national govern- 

 ment must buy the land from private 

 owners. The national government must 

 buy it because the benefit which will ac- 

 crue from the reservation will be not 

 alone for New Hampshire, but for all the 

 New England states, save possibly Rhode 

 Island. Elaborate arguments were made 

 last spring before the Agricultural Com- 

 mittee of the House of Representatives, 

 which has this bill in charge. The 

 bill provides for an appropriation of 

 $3,000,000 for the White Mountain re- 

 serve, and also for a larger reserve in the 

 Appalachian Mountains, in the southern 

 states. At the hearings before the com- 

 mittee it was abundantly proved that the 

 creation of these reserves, and that with- 

 out further delay, is a matter of the high- 

 est importance to the respective sections 

 in which they are located. The injurious 

 effect upon the Connecticut River of the 

 destruction of the White Mountain for- 

 ests was so amply testified to as to be 

 beyond question. 



PLAN TO MAKE THE FOREST RESERVES 

 SELF-SUPPORTI NG* 



The money value of the national for- 

 ests now reserved for the use and benefit 



* Extract from a recent message to Congress 

 by President Roosevelt. 



