10 GOVERNMENT FOREST WORK. 



about in a thoroughly prompt and businesslike man- 

 ner, under such restrictions only as will insure the 

 permanence of these resources. * * * You will see 

 to it that the water, wood, and forage of the reserves 

 are conserved and wisely used for the benefit of the 

 home builder first of all, upon whom depends the best 

 permanent use of lands and resources alike. The con- 

 tinued prosperity of the agricultural, lumbering, min- 

 ing, and live-stock interests is directly dependent 

 upon a permanent and accessible supply of water, 

 wood, and forage, as well as upon the present and 

 future use of these resources under businesslike regu- 

 lations enforced with promptness, effectiveness, and 

 •common sense. In the management of each reserve 

 local questions will be decided upon local grounds, 

 the dominant industry will be considered first, but 

 with as little restriction to minor industries as may 

 be possible ; sudden changes in industrial conditions 

 will be avoided by gradual adjustment after due 

 notice, and where conflicting interests must be recon- 

 ciled the question will always be decided from the 

 standpoint of the greatest good to the greatest num- 

 ber in the long run. 



Agricultural Land. 



i Lands which are more valuable for agriculture than 

 for forestry purposes have been excluded from the 

 National Forests either by changes in the Forest 

 boundaries or by being opened to settlement and entry 

 under the Forest Homestead Act of June 11, 1906. The 

 act of August 10, 1912, which directed that the Na- 

 tional Forest lands be classified for the purpose of 

 determining those which are chiefly valuable for agri- 

 culture, has resulted in practically all agricultural 

 lands within the National Forests being listed for 

 entry in the United States, land oniees. The greater 

 part of the land which has really valuable agricultural 

 possibilities has been taken up and most of what is 

 left lies at high altitudes remote from roads, schools, 

 villages, and markets, where the winter climate is 



