4 MISC. PUBLICATION 290, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



along the Alaskan shore, where valuable Sitka spruce and hemlock 

 growth clothes the lower flanks of the coastal mountains, are the 

 Tongass National Forest, extending from the southern tip of the 

 Territory northward, and the Chugach National Forest, which is 

 within sight of Mount McKinley. 



Timber, water, forage, wildlife, recreational features, and other 

 resources of the national forests are for use of the people. The 

 timber contributes to the industrial enterprises through a yearly cut 

 of more than a billion board feet of lumber. The vegetative cover 

 protects against erosion watersheds that are the source of about one- 

 third of our potential water power, and helps insure pure and abun- 

 dant water supplies to hundreds of towns and cities. The forage fur- 

 nishes seasonal grazing for about 12,000,000 head of livestock of all 

 ages. Fish in thousands of miles of mountain streams and big-game 

 animals numbering approximately 1,700,000 head provide enjoyment 

 for those who love the out of doors, and in addition there are many 

 small fur bearers and game birds. Roads and trails and other 

 improvements have made accessible superb vacation places and 

 created in the forests a vast playground for increasing millions of 

 recreation seekers. 



FORESTS CREATED FROM PUBLIC DOMAIN 



About 50 years ago the forests on the public domain seemed in 

 a fair way to be eventually destroyed by fire and reckless cutting. 

 Nothing was being done to protect them or even to use them in the 

 right way. They were simply left to burn or else to pass by means 

 of one or another of the land laws into the hands of private owners 

 whose interest in most cases impelled them to take from the land 

 what they could get easily, and then abandon it. 



Congress recognized the situation that was developing and in 1891 

 authorized the President to set aside forest reserves, as the national 

 forests were for some years called, in order to protect the remaining 

 timber on the public domain from destruction and to insure a reg- 

 ular flow of water in the streams. The first forest reserve — the 

 Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve — was created by President 

 Harrison that same year. Later Presidents have created others, 

 until at present there are about 160 national forests with a total 

 net area of about 175,000,000 acres located in 35 States and 2 Terri- 

 tories. There are still millions of acres of public domain that should 

 be in national forests. 



The original act made no provision for administering the forests, 

 and the withdrawal of the land involved from all forms of settlement 

 met with vigorous disapproval, especially in the West, where most 

 of the reserves were situated. These defects, however, were largely 

 removed by Congress on June 4, 1897, in a law outlining a system of 

 organization and management for the reserves and placing their 

 administration under the .Secretary of the Interior. 



Government administration of the reserves required the applica- 

 tion of scientific forestry. Timber cutting had to provide for the 

 growing of a new timber crop. The ranges had been seriously in- 

 jured by unrestricted grazing and it was necessary to devise methods 

 for increasing the forage crop. Both timber use and grazing use 



