36 



.SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN EEGION. 



of science, by practical lumberineii, l)y the forestry asso- 

 ciations, by man}' of the business organizations of the 

 country, and by ])oth the technical and the general press. 

 I earnestly hope that it will meet with favorable action at 

 the hands of Congress during its present session. 

 National forest Congress has wisely provided for the setting aside out 



reserves in the ° _ . 



West. of the public domain, and thus withdrawing from sale, 



many thousands of square miles of valuable forest lands, 

 with a view to protecting the streams and perpetuating 

 the timber supply about the mountains in our western 

 States and Territories. (See PI. II.) And while the meas- 

 ure now proposed involves a purchase instead of a with- 

 drawal from sale of forest lands formerl}- purchased, the 

 principle and purpose are the same. In both cases, even 

 if judged simply as a question of finance, the Government's 

 investment will ultimatel}' prove a good one. 

 mended not'"a further illustrating the fact that the proposed pur- 

 Govemment chase will not be a new policy or precedent on the part of 

 the Government, attention maj' be called to the numerous 

 purchases of lands for militarv parks, and to the purchase 

 from the Blackfoot Indians in 1896 of more than half a 

 million acres of forest lands at a cost of $1,500,000, which 

 area was subsequently added to the Flathead Forest Resei've 

 in Montana. 



Forest reserve I stated in my preliuiinarv report of Januarv last, 



more important J i . .1 ^ ' 



than a park but ^jjg early movemcnt for the purchase and control of a large 



the two not an- J l & 



tagonistic. ^iYea. of forest land in the East hy the Government chiefly 

 contemplated a national park, but the idea of a national 

 park is conservation, not use; that of a forest reserve is 

 conservation by use, and 1 therefore recommend the estab- 

 lishment of a forest reserve instead of a park. If, how- 

 ever, the present proposal for the establishment of a 

 national forest reserve is favorabl}^ acted upon by Con- 

 gress, and at- some future time it should prove desirable 

 that some considerable portion of this region be set aside 

 and opened up more especiall}' for use as a national park. 

 I can see in advance no objection whatever to the carrying 

 out of such a plan. 



CONDITIONS OF PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT. 



Cost of the I stated in the preliminary report just referred to that 

 unds.**^'" lands in this region suitable for a forest reserve are now 

 generally held in large bodies of from 50,000 to 100,000 

 acres, and that they can be purchased at prices ranging 



