PRACTICAL FOEESTRY. 47 



than 470,000,000 acres, or nearly one-third of the United States, not 

 including the Territory of Alaska, which has an area of about 

 350,000,000 acres. A large part of the public domain has been sur- 

 veyed by the Government and divided first into squares 6 miles on 

 each side, called townships, then into squares of 1 mile, called sections, 

 and these again into quarter sections and smaller divisions. The 

 lines which mark these divisions are straight and at right angles to 

 each other. When any part of the public domain is reserved or dis- 

 posed of it is usually located by reference to these lines. 



Federal forest reserves. — ^When power was given the President to 

 make forest reserves, the public domain still contained much of the 

 best timber ia the West, but it was passing rapidly into private hands. 

 Acting upon the wise principle that forests whose preservation is 

 necessary for the general welfare should remain in Government con- 

 trol, President Harrison created the first forest reserves. President 

 Cleveland followed his example. But there was yet no systematic 

 plan for the making or management of the reserves, which at the time 

 were altogether without protection by the Government. Toward the 

 end of President Cleveland's second administration, therefore, the 

 National Academy of Sciences was asked to appoint a commission 

 to examine the national forest lands and report a plan for their con- 

 trol. The academy did so, and upon the recommendation of the 

 National Forest Commission so appointed. President Cleveland 

 doubled the reserve area by setting aside 13 additional forest reserves 

 on Washington's Birthday, 1897. 



The Cleveland forest reserves awakened at once great opposition, 

 and led to a general discussion of the forest policy. But after several 

 years of controversy widespread approval took the place of opposition, 

 and at present the value of the forest reserves is generally recognized. 



The recommendations of the NationaJ Forest Commission for the 

 management of the forest reserves were not acted upon by Congress, 

 but the law of June 4, 1897, gave the Secretary of the Interior author- 

 ity to protect the reserves and make them useful. The passage of 

 this law was the first step toward a national forest service. The 

 second step was the act of Congress, approved February 1, 1905, 

 which transferred the control of the national forest reserves from the 

 Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture. This 

 act consolidated the Government's forest work, which had been 

 divided between the General Land Office and the Bureau of Forestry, 

 and secured for the reserves the supervision of trained foresters. 



President McKinley and after him President Roosevelt continued 

 to make forest reserves. *The latter introduced a system of examining 

 the proposed forest reserves, so that now their boundaries are better 

 located than ever before. Under him great progress has been made 



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