their indispensable role as regulators of the kind and amount of fresh 

 water available to western people. 



Similarly in recreation the national forests are of increasing im- 

 portance because of more leisure time, greater mobility of the average 

 family, increased accessibility of the national forests, and the rela- 

 tively low cost of a national-forest vacation. 



In the West, despite downward adjustments in the numbers of 

 permitted livestock, over one-fifth of the sheep and one-eighth of the 

 cattle graze national-forest ranges. Over one-third of all big game 

 in the Nation is found on the national forests along with 81 thousand 

 miles of fishing streams and over 2 million acres of natural lakes and 

 impounded waters. 



NATIONAL-FOREST PROGRESS SINCE 1953 



In his first State of the Union message on February 2, 1953, the 

 President called attention to the vast importance to this Nation now 

 and in the future of the soil and water, the forests and minerals, and 

 the wildlife resources. It was recognized that the Federal respon- 

 sibility in the field of resource development called for a strong 

 program. 



Since that time, substantial and gratifying progress has been made, 

 both financially and physically, in the development and management 

 of the national forests and associated lands. 2 Some of the outstanding 

 achievements that have been accomplished since 1953 should be 

 mentioned. 



In timber resource management, the funds available for sales ad- 

 ministration and management have risen from 5.9 million dollars in 

 fiscal year 1953 to 13.5 million dollars in fiscal year 1959, and those 

 for reforestation and stand improvement have risen from 1.2 million 

 dollars to 3.0 million dollars. In 1953, 5.2 billion board feet of timber 

 with a stumpage value of 70.6 million dollars were cut. After reach- 

 ing a previous peak in 1957, 8.0 billion board feet with a stumpage 

 value of more than 100 million dollars are expected to be cut in 1959. 

 At the same time, the number of timber sales rose from 24,300 to an 

 estimated 36,000 in 1959. In 1953, the area planted or seeded to trees 

 was 51,200 acres. Almost double that amount is now being planted 

 annually. Timber stand improvement work was done on 387,300 acres 

 in 1953. Today this work is being carried out on approximately 

 800,000 acres annually. 



In 1953, the sum of 2.4 million dollars was available for range re- 

 source management : 1.0 million dollars being for range management, 

 $763,000 for range revegetation, and $658,000 for range improvements. 

 In fiscal year 1959, the sum of 4.8 million dollars is available: 1.7 

 million dollars being for range management, 1.5 million dollars for 

 range revegetation, and 1.6 million dollars for range improvements. 



2 Hereinafter referred to as the national-forest system. 



