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Rh the Bureau of Forestry. In recognition of its new duties the designation of the bureau became the Forest Service.



Other provisions of the act which affected the transfer were that forest supervisors and rangers should be selected, so far as possible, from qualified citizens of the state or territory in which each forest was situated, and that all money received from the sale of any products or the use of any land or resources of the national forests should be covered into the treasury and constitute a special fund for their protection, administration, improvement and extension. Five days later a statute gave forest officers the power to arrest trespassers; and on the 3rd of March the lieu land selection law was repealed. This law had opened the way for grave abuses through the exchange of worthless land by private owners within the forests for an equal area of valuable timber lands outside.

The law has been modified since by the change of the old name “Forest Reserves” to “National Forests.” The act of June 11, 1906, opened to homestead entry lands within national forests found by examination to be chiefly valuable for agriculture. The administration and improvement of the national forests are now provided for directly by congressional appropriation. The power to create national forests conferred on the president by the act of March 1891 has been repealed for the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but for no others.

The Forest Service began in earnest the development of all the resources of the national forests. Mature timber was sold wherever there was a demand for it and the permanent welfare of the forests and protection of the streams permitted, but always so as to prevent waste, guard against fire, protect young growth and ensure reproduction. Regulations were adopted which allowed small sales to be made without formality or delay, secured for the government the full value of timber sold, and eliminated unnecessary routine. Care was taken to safeguard the interests of the government and provide for the maintenance of good technical standards. The conduct of local business was entrusted to local officers. Large transactions with general policies were controlled from Washington, but with careful