FOREST RANGERS' CATECHISM 



WHAT ARE NATIONAL FORESTS? 



1. What are national forests? 



National forests are areas of Government land set aside to protect 

 and maintain in a permanently productive and useful condition lands 

 unsuited to agriculture but capable of yielding timber and other 

 forest benefits, such as forage for livestock and water for irrigation, 

 domestic use. and power. 



2. To whom do the national forests belong? 

 To the people of the United States. 



3. How are national forests created? 



Congress, in 1891, authorized the President to set aside forest 

 reserves, as national forests were for some years called, from public 

 lands covered wholly or in part with timber or undergrowth, in order 

 to protect the remaining timber on the public domain from destruc- 

 tion and to insure a regular flow of water in the streams. Later 

 laws have prohibited the enlargement of the forests or the creation 

 of new forests in Colorado, Wyoming. Montana, Idaho, Washington, 

 Oregon, California, Arizona, and New Mexico, through additions 

 from the public lands, except by act of Congress. 



Under provisions of an act of Congress, of March 1, 1911, called 

 the Weeks law. and an act of June 7. 1924, the Clarke-McXary law, 

 lands valuable for the protection of the headwaters of navigable 

 streams and for timber growing are purchased by the Government 

 for national-forest purposes. 



4. When was the first national forest in the United States created? 



The first forest reserve — the Yellowstone Park Timberland Re- 

 serve — was created by President Harrison on September 16, 1891. 

 The land included within this reserve now forms parts of several 

 national forests in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, adjacent to the 

 Yellowstone National Park. 



5. When and why was the name national forests adopted? 



On March 4, 1907, the name " forest reserves " was changed to 

 " national forests " to indicate that the forests and their resources 

 were not reserved or locked up, but were for present as well as future 

 use. 



6. Who administers the national forests? 



The Forest Service, a bureau of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, created February 1, 1905. by the merging of the 

 former Division of Forestry of the General Land Office, Department 



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