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Sierra Club Bulletin 



understanding of what it is all about, and a fuller realization of the desirability 

 of the general principles involved. 



The boundaries of the national forests of the United States enclose a total 

 area of about 174,000,000 acres, which is about one and three-fourths times 

 the area of the State of California. But of this area about 20,000,000 acres are 

 in private ownership — an area about equal to the total agricultural land in 

 California. The private holdings within the national forests are, however, 

 mostly non-agricultural, and they are largely the property of lumber companies. 

 Often the privately owned areas so seriously break up the continuity of the 

 national forest lands as greatly to embarrass forest management and fire pro- 

 tection. After the logging of the merchantable timber, the cut-over areas may 

 not form an asset of much value to the lumber company. This is particularly 

 true when they are owned by companies not interested in producing a perma- 

 nent yield, or when the lands are so located as to form in themselves an unde- 

 sirable unit for permanent forest management. On the other hand, the lumber- 

 man often needs and should have the mature timber of the national forests. 

 Ordinarily he pays cash when buying the government timber. But in the last 

 few years the idea of land exchange has been steadily gaining. 



The most desirable principle of exchange is that of privately owned cut-over 

 land in return for national forest standing timber to be logged by the lumber- 

 man. At least two advantages accrue to the public: consolidation, or greater 

 continuity, of the national forest and an increased area devoted to the produc- 

 tion of timber crops, recreation, and the control of stream-flow. Where such 

 exchange is not feasible, other types may be desirable; for example, the inter- 

 change of both land and timber in order to consolidate the holdings of each 

 party. 



An exchange bill for the Sierra Forest was enacted in 1920. At present bills 

 are pending for the Eldorado, Klamath, Plumas, Sequoia, Shasta, Stanislaus, 

 and Tahoe forests. General legislation intended to authorize land exchange in 

 all national forests is also proposed. 



Possibility of a Forest Experiment Station for California. — The Forest Ser- 

 vice hopes that its investigative work may be developed and concentrated 

 through the establishment of a strong federal forest experiment station in each 

 of the principal forest districts of the United States. At the last session of Con- 

 gress certain of these stations were established in the East. The bill providing 

 for the one in California failed to carry because of the lack of public pressure 

 from California. The bill has been introduced again in the present session of 

 Congress. A state in which the forest plays so important a role as it does in 

 California should see to it that it does not fall behind in forest research. 



The Fire Season. — On the timbered national forests north of the Tehachapi 

 887 forest fires were reported in 192 1, which is noticeably below the average 

 of 1050 per year for the last decade. An unusual feature of the season was the 

 small number of lightning fires: 175, as contrasted with the yearly average of 

 435 for the last ten years, with a maximum of 705. Incendiary fires numbered 

 72, which is below the ten-year average. There was an increase in the number 

 of campers' fires, corresponding closely to the estimated increase in travel in 

 the national forests. 



