910 DEPARTMENTAL REPOKTS. 



The work on the Chippewa Indian Reservation, in northern Minne- 

 sota, which will eventually become a National forest reserve, has been 

 steadily carried on during the past year, under the act of June 27, 

 1902, which provided that these lands, with a total area of 231,400 

 acres, should be placed under forest management. The land on 

 which it was specified that 95 per cent of the timber should be sold 

 at public auction is now being logged. All trees to be left standing 

 on these sections have been or will be marked, and regulations to 

 govern the cutting have been prescribed. The work of removing the 

 timber is going on as rapidly as possible, and is under the constant 

 supervision of the Service. 



During the year approximately 10,000 acres were marked for cut- 

 ting and 6,000 acres were cut. Altogether 50,000 acres have been 

 marked since the work began. Brush burning was completed on 

 5,645 acres at the end of the year, at an approximate cost of 15 cents 

 per thousand feet of lumber, which was less than one-tenth of what 

 was commonly predicted. 



The success of the plan adopted to'secure the perpetuation of the 

 forest is entirely assured. Already young seedlings are springing 

 up in abundance, and there can be no question that an ample supply 

 of young growth will be established over the entire forest area. 

 Notwithstanding an extraordinarily unfavorable season, the loss by 

 windfall in the 5 per cent of seed trees left standing has not even 

 endangered reproduction. The loss by windfall was less among the 

 seed trees than in the body of the uncut forest. Even the loss which 

 took place is not a loss of the lumber nor a permanent loss of seed 

 trees, for most of the trees blown down have been logged, and the 

 existence of timber yet to be cut in their near neighborhood has gen- 

 erally made it possible to select others which will be left in their 

 stead. 



PErVATB LANDS. 



During the past year the number of applications for advice and 

 assistance in the management of timber lands and wood lots under 

 the offer of cooperation outlined in Circular No. 21 has increased 

 materially. But still more significant and satisfactory than the 

 increase in the number of applications is the wide territory and new 

 localities from which they come. Interest in conservative lumber- 

 ing and the best utilization of timber lands is undergoing a rapid 

 growth, and nowhere more so than in the West. Both from the 

 Coast States and from the Middle West many applications for assist- 

 ance have been received during the past year, and the rapid growth 

 of interest has been very marked. 



During the year 167 applications were received for advice and 

 assistance in the management of private forest lands. Of these, 45 

 were for timber tracts, with a total area of 1,439,763 acres, and 122 

 were for wood lots, with a total area of 7,509 acres. The total area 

 of private lands covered by applications for assistance in manage- 

 ment since the publication of Circular No. 21 is 10,947,246 acres, of 

 which 10,917,978 acres are in timber tracts and 29,268 acres in wood 

 lots. 



In the case of timber tracts a preliminary examination must pre- 

 cede the preparation of a working plan. Such examinations were 

 made during the year of 22 timber tracts in the States of New York, 



