26 FOREST POLICY. 



(XXVIII.) THE PRESENT STATUS OF FEDERAL LANDS 

 OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The United States government still owns within its continental 

 borders, exclusive of Alaska, 677,000,000 acres — (_= 1-3 of total area) 

 — of land, 224,000,000 acres of which are unsurveyed. This land is com- 

 posed as follows: 



Reserves 151,000,000 acres 



Military 800,000 acres 



Indian 80,000,000 



Forest 60,000,000 



National parks 4,000,000 



Reservoir sites 200,000 



Miscellaneous 6,000,000 



Grazing land 332,000,000 acres 



Unreserved woodland 124,000,000 " 



Deserts 70,000,000 " 



The unappropriated land, everywhere, is naturally less adapted 

 to agriculture than used to be the case some ten or twenty years ago, 

 the best land having already been taken. 



After F. H. Newell, ChiefHydrographer of the United States, and 

 Major Powell, former Chief of the Geolo'gical Survey, not over one 

 hundred million acres of the semi-arid region can ever be improved 

 by irrigation. 



The percentage of vacant land in the various western States is 

 as follows: 



Over 90 per cent — Nevada. 



Over 80 per cent — Idaho, Wyoming, Utah. 



Over 70 per cent — Montana, Arizona. 



Over 60 per cent — Colorado, New Mexico. 



Over 50 per cent — California, Oregon. 



Over 40 per cent — Washington, North Dakota. 



Over 30 per cent— South Dakota, Oklahoma. 



Over 20 per cent — Nebraska. 



The sale to private parties of vacant land belonging to the United 

 States takes place through the General Land Office of the Department 

 of the Interior, under the following laws: 



First: The Homestead law, which provides that any citizen of the 

 United States may acquire one hundred and sixty acres of land of 

 the United States, not otherwise occupied or reserved, by filing an 

 affidavit of honest intention with the local land agent, paying certain 

 fees, and either residing on the land for five years, or else residing 

 on the land six (viz. fourteen) months and paying for the value of 

 the land at the minimum rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per 

 acre. (Commutation clause.) In 1902, 14,052,351 acres were thus 

 disposed of. 



In -the State of Missouri public lands are sold privately at the 



