THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 



By Geoege Otis Smith and others. 



THE PURPOSE OF LAND CLASSIFICATION. 



In the latter half of the nineteenth century the spirit of the public- 

 land laws in the United States was settlement and development. 

 With a public domain of one and a third billion acres, acquired in the 

 preceding half century — 1803-1853 — ^by purchase, discovery, explora- 

 tion, and cession, and with another third of a billion acres in Alaska 

 constituting a later purchase, the Nation felt that it could be lavish 

 with its lands. The wilderness called for pioneers of every type, and 

 large premiums were held out to capital enterprise and individual 

 initiative. Development was desired whatever the cost in lands that 

 were intrinsically of little value without settlement. The same cen- 

 tury that saw the creation of this national domain — an empire in 

 itself — also witnessed the distribution of more than one-half of its 

 acreage. This shrinkage of the national domain has naturally been 

 coincident with national development in all lines of industry. "West- 

 ern prairies liave become the world's granary, and western moun- 

 tains, once wholly in public ownership, are now contributing to their 

 private and corporate owners the profits on no small proportion of 

 the world's output of metals and of mineral fuels. 



With advancing years a wise nation, like a prudent man, learns 

 to husband its resources. Land values are now recognized, the pur- 

 pose in both legislation and administration has changed, and highest 

 development alone is sought. With the most and the best of the 

 Nation's land already alienated, the national duty is to put to its 

 best use what remains. 



Utilization of lands for their greatest value necessitates the deter- 

 mination of that value, which is, briefly, land classification; and, 

 to be adequate, land classification must be based upon first-hand 

 acquaintance with the particular land under consideration. With a 

 national estate including country ranging from salt-incrusted deserts 

 to valleys knee-deep with nutritious grasses or giant forests almost 

 impenetrable because of luxuriant undergrowth, no general statutes 



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