8 USE OK THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



HOW THEY ARE MADE. 



At first a great many of the National Forests were 

 made without knowing exactly where the boundary lines 

 should run. This was unfortunate; because some agri- 

 cultural lands which should have been excluded were 

 taken in, and a good deal of timber land which should 

 have been included was left out. This could have been 

 avoided by making examinations on the ground, but 

 there was no money for the work, and so the boundaries 

 had to be drawn very roughly. 



Since 1900, however, men and money have been avail- 

 able for field examinations, and rough and inaccurate 

 work has been done away with entirely. The old and 

 carelessly made National Forests have been surveyed 

 and mapped, and the President has put back into the 

 public domain those lands which should not have been 

 included. Now, before new Forests or additions to old 

 ones- are made, all the lands are examined on the ground. 



The greatest care is used in this work. Every section 

 of land is examined, mapped, and described, and the 

 boundaries are drawn to exclude, as far as possible, 

 everything which does not properly belong in a National 

 Forest. Two very detailed maps are made. One shows 

 just what is growing on the land, the other shows who 

 owns or claims the land. Every bit of cultivated land 

 is located and mapped, as well as the land which is 

 suited to cultivation but which is not cultivated at 

 present. Men trained under western conditions are em- 

 ployed in the work. They report very thoroughly about 

 all matters, such as the importance of the forest to regu- 

 late the water flow, its present and future value in sup- 



