WHAT THEY MEAN. 9 



plying the local demand for timber, and how the creation 

 of a National Forest would affect all the local industries 

 of the region; especially, how it would affect the home 

 builder. 



Before any new National Forest is made it is known 

 just why it should be made, just what effect it will have, 

 and just where it should be located. 



There are now about 145,000,000 acres of National 

 Forests in the United States and about 5,000,000 acres 

 more in Alaska and Porto Rico. The list in the Ap- 

 pendix shows where they are located and what they are 

 called. 



WHAT THEY MEAN. 



One of the unfortunate things in many 01 the discus- 

 sions about National Forests is that the facts concerning 

 them are sometimes mistaken or misrepresented. This 

 is because their real working is not understood. For 

 example, a common argument used by those who oppose 

 them is that when a National Forest is made all the 

 resources of the region are at once locked up, industry 

 checked, settlement prohibited, and future growth made 

 impossible or very difficult. Since a National Forest 

 really does none of these things, but works just the 

 other way, it is well to have a thorough understanding 

 of what the acttial effect is. 



Before a National Forest is made we have a forest- 

 covered area of public mountain land upon which the 

 various land laws apply. These open lands may be 

 taken up and patented under the timber and stone act, 

 under all the mineral laws, and possibly some of them 

 under the homestead law, if they are suitable for culti- 



