THE WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST 

 Herbert A. Smith. 

 Forest Service Editor. 



The Federal Government is building up a National Forest 

 in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire by the 

 purchase of the necessary lands from private owners. As 

 the lands are bought they are put under administration. 

 The first land was bought in 19 13. By the close of 1916 title 

 had been acquired to 205,289 acres, and arrangements had 

 been completed for the purchase of 76,970 acres more. The 

 total acquired or covered by approved contracts of sale at the 

 opening of the summer of 191 7 is 375,000 acres. 



This is equal to about half of what may be called the main 

 mass of the White Mountains — the region stretching from 

 the southern base of the Sandwich range on the south to the 

 Ammonusuc and Moose River Valleys on the north, and in- 

 cluding the Presidential, Carter, and Franconia Ranges. Ulti- 

 mately the Forest will probably reach a size of something like 

 a million acres. This is about the average size of the National 

 Forests which the Government has established in the moun- 

 tain regions of the West, out of the public lands. It will carry 

 the Forest northward over the mountains beyond the Ammon- 

 usuc and Moose Rivers as far as and including the Pliny 

 Range. Some of the land already bought lies in this northern 

 extension of the White Mountain region. 



The Government is buying up these forested mountains 

 in order that all the interests of the public in their right use 

 and protection may be fully safeguarded through orderly, 

 intelligent development of their value. The Nation is taking 

 over in the White Mountains a productive resource, in order 

 that it may continue to be productive, and productive of all 

 the public benefits which can be realized with skillful manage- 

 ment. These benefits are chiefly the regulation of water 

 supplies, the sustained yield of wood, and the enjoyment by 

 the people of the rare recreative and scenic value of the 



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