acreage was in the 

 Appalachian Mountain 

 hardwood type. However, 

 there were shortleaf pine 

 on the Ouachita and Ozark, 

 small areas of mixed 

 shortleaf and loblolly pine 

 on the Alabama, and 

 longleaf and slash pine in 

 parts of the 



Choctawhatchee and Ocala 

 (both of which contained 

 large areas of sand pine 

 and scrub hardwoods). 



In 1920, four more forests 

 were created in the 

 Appalachians: the Boone, 

 now part of the Pisgah; the 

 Nantahala in North Carolina, 

 South Carolina, and 

 Georgia; the Cherokee in 

 Tennessee; and the Unaka 

 in North Carolina, 

 Tennessee, and Virginia. 



At the close of the fiscal 

 year in 1924, lands in the 

 Appalachian units were still 

 bringing nearly $6 per acre, 

 indicating that they were of 

 high quality. Those in 

 Alabama brought about 

 $4.70 and those in 

 Arkansas, about $3.45 

 (Paxton 1950). 



Was the public benefiting 

 from the National Forest 

 Reservation Commission's 

 activities? Commission 

 reports between 1914 and 

 1 91 8 presented a great 

 many accomplishments 

 supporting the assumption 



that their work did indeed 

 benefit the public. 



Fire protection was 

 mentioned as one of the 

 greatest benefits. For 

 example, in 1913, only 

 3,600 acres of 

 government-owned lands 

 were burned over; in prior 

 years, it was common for 

 1 to 20 percent of these 

 areas to burn over in a 

 season. Cooperation with 

 State and local officials and 

 with other landowners was 

 increasing. And timber 

 owners were beginning to 

 follow the example of the 

 government in limiting the 

 cut to save young trees. 



The 1914 report stated that 

 rangelands were being 

 utilized, and that the general 

 public "'greatly appreciated' 

 the opportunity to go into 

 the highlands for health, 

 pleasure and recreation" 

 (U.S. Congress, Senate 

 1914). 



Another local benefit was 

 established in 1914: the 

 Forest Service was directed 

 to return 25 percent of 

 national forest proceeds to 

 the counties for school and 

 road purposes. The agency 

 was to spend an additional 

 10 percent on roads and 

 trails within the forests. 



During the early years of 

 the southern national 



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