2 BULLETIN 415, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The greater portion of the area which it seems advisable to reforest 

 consists of old burns, where recurring fires have completely ruined 

 the former forest and have left a scanty, sterile, and dried-out soil, 

 often littered with charred down timber and stumps. Some of*these 

 old burns are grown up to brush, some to fern, and some to grass 

 and fireweed. Many have been badly eroded; and there are large 

 areas where most of the vegetable soil has been burned. Among the 

 easiest to reforest are those which have recently suffered from light 

 fires, so that the mineral soil is exposed, but which are not so badly 

 eroded or grown up to brush as to make the establishment of tree 

 growth very difficult. 



REFORESTATION AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE OF NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRA- 

 TION. 



The two chief objects of the National Forests are the production 

 of timber and the protection of water sources. The timberlands of 

 the National Forests are now producing from five to six billion board 

 feet of wood a year. The complete restocking of the areas now de- 

 nuded or sparsely timbered will increase the annual production of 

 wood at least 3,000,000,000 feet. Probably still greater advantages 

 will be secured eventually through improved conditions for stream- 

 flow on many watersheds. This is a public benefit of immense impor- 

 tance because of its relation to the supply of water for cities and 

 towns, the protection of water sources for irrigation and power, and 

 the navigation of large streams. Restocking can be brought about 

 in part by the protection of the forests from fire, which permits the 

 natural extension of tree growth. The rest can be accomplished only 

 by forest planting. 



In selecting sites for artificial reforestation preference is usually 

 given in the following order : First, watersheds of streams important 

 for irrigation and municipal water supply, such as those which sup- 

 ply water to Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City; second, lands 

 which will produce heavy stands of quick-growing trees of high com- 

 mercial value, such as those in northern Idaho and western Wash- 

 ington: third, regions where the supply of timber is limited and 

 more wood is needed for local uses, as in western North and South 

 Dakota ; and fourth, sites which offer good opportunities for object 

 lessons in the practice of forestry, such as the sand hills of western 

 Nebraska (PL I), where there is practically no natural woodland, and 

 the inferior sandy lands of the Lake States, where the original forest 

 wealth has been largely destroyed by cutting and fire. Some areas 

 combine several advantages. For instance, a burned-over tract may 

 be suitable for sowing to some rapid-growing timber species and may 



