provision for first-hand knowledge and close touch with the work in the field. Business efficiency and the convenience of the public were carefully studied. In short, an organization was created capable of handling safely, speedily and satisfactorily the complex business of making useful a forest property of vast extent, scattered through sixteen different states of an aggregate area of over 1,500,000 sq. m. and with a population of 9,000,000.
The growth since the 1st of July 1897 of the area of the national forests, of the expenditures of the government for forestry, and of the receipts from the national forests, is shown by the statement which follows. Though the act of June 4, 1897, became effective immediately upon its passage, the fiscal year 1899 was the first of actual administration, because the first for which Congress made the appropriation necessary to carry out the law.
| Fiscal Year.[1] |
Area of National Forests at Close of Year (June 30). |
Division of Forestry (Bureau of Forestry, Forest Service). |
General Land Office. |
Receipts from National Forests. |
Receipts from National Forests, per Acre. |
Expenditures upon National Forests, per Acre. |
| Acres. | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |
| 1898 | 40,866,184 | 20,000.00 | · · | · · | · · | · · |
| 1899 | 46,168,439 | 28,520.00 | 175,000.00 | 7,534.83 | 0.00016 | 0.0038 |
| 1900 | 46,515,039 | 48,520.00 | 210,000.00 | 36,754.02 | .00078 | .0045 |
| 1901 | 46,324,479 | 88,520.00 | 325,000.00 | 29,250.88 | .00063 | .0070 |
| 1902 | 51,896,357 | 185,440.00 | 300,000.00 | 25,431.87 | .00049 | .0060 |
| 1903 | 62,211,240 | 291,860.00 | 304,135.00 | 45,838.08 | .00074 | .0054 |
| 1904 | 62,611,449 | 350,000.00 | 375,000.00 | 58,436.19 | .00093 | .0072 |
| 1905 | 85,693,422 | 632,232.36[2] | 217,907.64[2] | 73,276.15 | .00085 | .0059 |
| 1906 | 106,994,018 | 1,191,400.21 | · · | 767,219.96 | .00717 | .0089 |
| 1907 | 150,832,665 | 1,800,595.20 | · · | 1,571,059.44 | .01041 | .0097 |
| 1909 | 167,677,749 | 2,948,153.08 | · · | 1,807,276.66 | .00931 | .0151 |
Until 1906, the sole source of receipts was the sale of timber. In the fiscal year 1907, however, timber sales furnished less than half the receipts. The following statement concerning the timber sales of the fiscal years 1904–1907 will serve to bring out the change that followed the transfer of control to the forest service in the midst of the fiscal year 1905:—
| Fiscal Year. |
Amount of Timber Sold. |
Amount of Timber Cut. |
Receipts from Timber Sales. |
| Bd.-ft. | Bd.-ft. | $ | |
| 1904 | 112,773,710 | 58,435,000 | 58,436.19 |
| 1905 | 113,661,508 | 68,475,000 | 73,270.15 |
| 1906 | 328,230,326 | 138,665,000 | 245,013.49 |
| 1907 | 1,044,855,000 | 194,872,000 | 686,813.12 |
These figures show (1) a large excess each year in the amount of timber sold over that cut and paid for; (2) nine times as much timber sold at the end of the four-year period as at the beginning and three times as much cut; and (3) a much higher price obtained per thousand board-feet at the end of the period than at the beginning. Each of these matters calls for comment. The sales are of stumpage only; the government does no logging on its own account.
1. More timber is sold each year than is cut and paid for, because many of the sales extend over several years. With increasing sales the amount sold each year for future removal has exceeded the amount to be removed during that year under sales of earlier years. Large sales covering a term of years are made because the national forests contain much overmature timber, which needs removal, but which is frequently too inaccessible to be saleable in small amounts. To prevent speculation the time allowed for cutting is never more than five years, and cutting must begin at once and be continued steadily.
2. The volume of sales has increased rapidly because much forest is ripe for the axe, the demand is strong, and control by trained men makes it safe to cut more freely. The increase is marked both in small and in large sales, but a score of sales for less than $5000 are made against one for more. The total cut is still far below the annual increment of the forests. As the demand grows restrictions must increase in order to husband the present supply until the next crop matures.
3. The stumpage price would seem on the face of the figures to have risen from about one dollar to more than three dollars per thousand board-feet. The receipts, however, for any one year are not exclusively for the timber cut in that year, since payments are made in advance. In the year 1907 the average price obtained was something less than $2.50 per thousand. It is therefore true that stumpage prices have risen greatly, although conditions new to the American lumbermen are imposed. Full utilization of all merchantable material, care of young growth in felling and logging, and the piling of brush, to be subsequently burned by the forest officers if burning is necessary, are among these conditions. Timber to be cut must first be marked by the forest officers. Sales of more than $100 in value are made only after public advertisement.
Only the simplest forms of silviculture have as yet been introduced. The vast area of the national forests, the comparatively sparse population of the West, the rough and broken character of the forests themselves, and the newness of the problems which their management presents, make the general application of intensive methods for the present impracticable. Natural reproduction is secured. The selection system is most used, often under the rough and ready method of an approximate diameter limit, with the reservation of seed trees where needed. The tendency, however, is strongly towards a more flexible and effective application of the selection principle, as a better trained field force is developed and as market conditions improve.
One conspicuous achievement was the reduction of loss by fires on the national forests. During the unusually dry season of 1905 there were only eight fires of any importance, and the area burned over amounted only to about .16 of 1% of the total area. In 1900 about .12 of 1% was burned. This was accomplished by efficient patrol, co-operation of the public, and by preventive measures, such as piling and burning the brush on cut-over areas.
Since the beginning of 1906 the largest source of income from the national forests was their use for grazing. Stock-raising is one of the most important industries of the West. Formerly cattle and sheep grazed freely on all parts of the public domain. In the early days of the national forests the wisdom of permitting any grazing at all upon them was sharply questioned. Unrestricted grazing had led to friction between individuals, the deterioration of much of the range through overstocking, and serious injury to the forests and stream flow. The forests of the West, however, are largely of open growth and contain many grassy parks, the results of old fires, and many high mountain meadows. Under proper regulations the grass and
