Upon the foregoing principles the Forest Service prepares to fight fires and attacks those that do occur.

National forest improvements in eastern district.—In order to provide for the adequate protection, administration, and utilization of these purchased areas, a definite program for permanent improvements is followed, and as the areas are increased additional telephone lines, roads, and trails are needed. At the close of the calendar year 1926 there had been constructed and placed in operation 1,516 miles of telephone line, affording communication between the lookout stations, the district rangers' and supervisors' headquarters, cooperators, and neighboring towns, and supply points. An adequate system of telephone communication is absolutely essential in the protection organization of a forest.

In addition to the communication system a fire-detection system must also be provided, and in the carrying out of this idea 43 towers, observatories, and lookout houses have been constructed. These lookouts are depended upon for the prompt discovery and reporting of fires, these two factors being the key to successful protection.

The following additional improvements have been provided, primarily for the more efficient handling of the protective and administrative activities of the forest: 55 dwellings for firemen; 102 dwellings for administrative use; 65 barns at administrative stations; 2 office buildings; and 14 miles of pasture fences.

The protection system is not yet complete. Approximately 500 additional miles of telephone line must be constructed to complete the communication system. Many miles of trails are needed to give entrance to regions now difficult of access; 30 lookout towers, 10 lookout houses, 38 cabins for firemen, and as the units are enlarged by additional purchases these needs will be increased.

ROADS AND TRAILS ON THE EASTERN PURCHASED FORESTS

The Federal-aid road act approved July 11, 1916, provided direct appropriation for construction of roads in cooperation with the States and counties; and the post office appropriation act of February 28, 1919, carried further appropriations for road and trail work. The total money made available to date for road and trail work on the purchased forests from these two sources is $297,000 from the former and $476,000 from the latter. These funds have been practically exhausted.

In 1912 legislation was passed providing that 10 per cent of the gross receipts from the use and sale of national forest resources should be expended on the construction and maintenance of roads and trails within the forests. This so-called 10 per cent fund, increasing from year to year with the increased sale of timber and use of other resources, has totaled to date $110,246 for these forests. It is estimated that $16,587 more will be made available from the fiscal year 1928 receipts.

The present source of funds for the construction of roads and trails is the 10 per cent fund and appropriations made under the provisions of the Federal highway act of November 9, 1921, which provides that a certain amount be expended for roads and trails primarily for the administration, development, and use of the forests, called forest development roads; the remainder to be expended on

forest highways which are forest roads of primary importance to the State, county, or communities. Forest highways also serve important functions in connection with forest administration. To date there has been appropriated under the provisions of the Federal highway act $497,661 for forest highways and $861,438 for forest development roads within the purchased forests.

The important forest hig ways are being constructed or improved as rapidly as funds and facilities will permit. In addition to providing as rapidly as possible an adequate system of roads and trails to facilitate proper administration and protection of the timber and other resources, roads are being constructed in order to make accessible timber which is mature and ready for cutting. A third and still less important use of both classes of roads is for motor tourists and campers who wish to enjoy the national forests.

The Government has constructed and improved 610 miles of roads within and adjacent to the purchased forests, and during the past fiscal year maintained an existing system of 530 miles of roads. On a number of these projects cooperation was received from the States, counties and communities.

Among the more important roads which have been constructed or improved, or on which work is being done, are the Three States Roads, which is a section of the road leading from Walhalla, S. C. to Highlands, N. C., and the Dillard-Highlands Road, both in the Nantahala Forest; sections of the Pinkham Notch Road in the White Mountains, including a bridge over Peabody River to the Dolly Copp Forest camp site; the Pisgah Motor Road, affording a delightful one-day tour from Asheville across the Pisgah Ridge, and the MarionMicaville Road, both in the Pisgah Forest; the Toccoa Basin Road, leading from the Atlanta-Asheville Highway into the Toccoa River Basin; the Unicoi Gap Road, which is a section of the road between Cleveland, Ga., and Hiwassee, Ga.; the Kimsey Highway, which crosses the mountains at an elevation of approximately 3,000 feet; and the Tellico River Road, which extends up the Tellico River gorge from Tellico Plains, Tenn., to the North Carolina State line, all in the Cherokee Forest; the Bristol-Mountain City Road in the Unaka Forest; the James River Road, which is a section of the road leading from Lynchburg, Va., to Natural Bridge, Va.; the Jordan Road, crossing the Blue Ridge at White Gap, both in the Natural Bridge Forest; the Briery Branch Road leading from Harrisonburg, Va., to Sugar Grove, W. Va.; the Lebanon-Green Valley Road and the Fort Valley-Luray Road in the Shenandoah Forest; the Elk Mountain Road, crossing the Allegheny Mountains from Thornwood to Circleville, W. Va., in the Monongahela Forest; and the Cheatham Road in the Alabama Forest leading from Double Springs to Moulton, Ala.

Special attention has been directed toward the construction of utilization roads necessary for the salvaging of the chestnut timber in the blight-stricken regions. Noteworthy among these are the Nantahala River Road in the Nantahala Forest, the Jennings Creek Road in the Natural Bridge Forest, and the Beaverdam Road in the Unaka Forest.

A system of 2,600 miles of trails has been constructed, and an existing system of 2,100 miles is being maintained in serviceable condition. The primary service of these mountain trails is to facili

tate proper protection of the timber stands from fire by rendering them more readily accessible to fire-suppression forces with their supplies and equipment. At the same time these trails place within ready reach of the outdoor enthusiast the most delightful sections of the mountain forests.

To provide a reasonably complete system of roads and trails for the purchased forests, there is needed to be constructed or improved an additional mileage of approximately 3,200 miles of roads and 900 additional miles of trails. A large portion of these roads was built before the land was acquired, but through neglect had become practically impassable.

Timber sales and forest management in the eastern forests.-During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1928, the purchased forests under administration yielded, excluding the Choctawhatchie, Ocala, Ouachita, Ozark, and Military Forests, a gross revenue of $162,519 of which $150,472 represents receipts from the sale of forest products, including saw timber, chestnut tannic-acid wood, pulpwood, tanbark, telephone poles, posts, ties, and fuel wood, and timber settlement and timber trespass, the balance being miscellaneous receipts from grazing, special use and grazing and fire trespass.

The following table shows, by years, the acquired areas and the corresponding receipts from the acquired land:

It will be noted that the gross income from the purchased forests exceeds by approximately $17,000 the high point reached in 1924. With the revival of the hardwood lumber market has come a marked stimulation of both inquiries and sales, and a steady increase in receipts may be looked for; in fact, it is confidently expected that within a reasonable number of years the purchased forests will be self-supporting; i. e., cost of administration and receipts will balance.

It is desirable from the financial standpoint to increase the receipts, especially since 25 per cent of the receipts is returned to the road and school fund of the States and an additional 10 per cent is spent on roads, nevertheless this is by no means the prime consideration. On the purchased lands there is estimated to be a stand of saw timber and other products of nearly 5,000,000,000 board feet. The chief object in selling timber is to improve the condition of the forest. To this end much time during the past and preceding years has been devoted to the preparation of cutting plans. Such plans outline how much timber may be cut, where sale areas may be located, which areas should be cut first, etc. In preparing these plans the needs of local industries dependent on the forests are always kept in mind, and it is the aim, as far as possible, consistent with the annual growth of a

forest, to assure industries an annual supply of timber with a view to their permanent operation.

In the management of the forests there are many problems which require wise planning and good business judgment. The majority of the lands have been acquired in a cut-over condition or else have been culled of the choicest timber. It therefore becomes necessary to dispose of a large amount of comparatively low-grade old-growth timber in order to liberate the young timber replacement already established and permit its rapid development.

On White Mountain National Forest, in New Hampshire, and Maine, for example, there is a stand of some 300,000,000 board feet of mature and overmature hardwoods, the permissible annual cut from which far exceeds the total requirements of existing wood-using plants tributary to the forest. A market must be developed for the material. In the southern Appalachians the situation is complicated by the presence of chestnut-blight disease, which is rapidly eliminating chestnut as a timber-producing tree. Large quantities of chestnut on the various national forests must be salvaged if possible before being completely killed, meanwhile providing for a future stand of the most valuable remaining species.

As a result of the policy followed, the conditions of the purchased lands is continuously improving after cuttings designed to remove defective, mature, and overmature timber, thereby releasing thrifty young timber, and by creating conditions favorable for restocking. As a result of preventing fires, the acquired lands are rapidly being stocked with seedlings, assuring not only a second crop of timber but a much more even run-off of water and reduced erosion.

Recreation on the eastern purchased national forests.-The extension of good roads built by Federal, State, and county funds through the eastern national forests has actively stimulated their recreational uses. Each year areas hitherto inaccessible are opened to automobile traffic and these roads are eagerly traversed by the vacationists from far and near. These tourists are thus brought into close contact with the national forests and the numerous activities which are conducted upon them. There are as a result of Government protection extensive areas of land which have not been burned for 10 years or more. The means of fire preparedness such as telephone lines, fire observation towers, and tool boxes may be seen from practically any road on the national forests. The methods of cutting under approved forestry principles may be seen and the system of brush disposal designed to lessen the fire risk may be studied. The close observer will note the kind of trees which have been left for seed supply and will be able to contrast the improved close utilization of forest products with cutting elsewhere. The eastern national forests will thus afford an object lesson to those who seek information as to the protection and management of woodlands. The use of national forest lands as sources from which domestic water supplies are drawn is a matter of some interest, and is, of course a vital matter to the communities affected.

It is not necessary formally to open the national forests to recreational use. The public does not now look upon them as 'reservations" but as places where rest and recreation plus a feeling of ownership in the property may be enjoyed. In order to realize the highest

use of the forests it has been necessary to further study the needs of the summer visitors from an esthetic as well as a hygienic standpoint.

Of all the camp grounds the Dolly Copp on the White Mountain is the most popular and fortunately there is ample area for the physical expansion of the facilities. The provision of adequate sanitary conveniences is a severe tax on the limited funds available for the purpose. Beyond certain limits simple toilet facilities are impracticable, and the spring, a splendid source of water supply for near-by campers, is at an inconvenient location for the more distant occupants of the grounds. As the use of this and other popular camp grounds increases it will be imperative for the sake of health and safety to provide complete water and sewage systems.

The lack of commercialization of these camp grounds is an attractive feature to many visitors. They seek relief from the ordinary type of private camp and welcome a policy which is aimed to provide rest and recreation on the national forest devoid of the catchpenny devices encountered elsewhere.

The Forest Service must in the administration of the forests have a well balanced program to provide for the needs and so far as possible meet the ideals of those who seek the national forests for rest, recreation and the development of sturdy qualities of citizenship.

Fish and game on the eastern purchased national forests.-There is a keen realization that the abundant wild-life resources of by-gone days can be replaced in the southern mountain regions only by persistent cooperative effort. Private fish and game clubs, some national in scope, the several State game departments, and the various Federal bureaus are striving earnestly to restock the woodlands with game and the streams with fish. There is being driven home to the local population the facts that forest fires, indiscriminate hunting, and the use of dogs for running deer, means the decimation of game, that annual burning of the woods destroys the nests of wild turkey and other game birds and hastens erosion to the detriment of trout and other fish.

All this augurs for vastly improved conditions as to wild life in the forests. With self-restraint, obedience to the laws, the public may again enjoy an abundance of game as did the pioneers, and this despite the improved firearms and the ever-present automobile.

On the Pisgah National Game Refuge the deer population has now reached approximately 3,200 and is equal if not in excess of the number for an equal area of the Kaibab National Forest in northern Arizona, where it is considered that an unmanageable surplus exists. The local situation is being carefully studied and the surplus is being made available for the stocking of game refuges on other national forests in cooperation with the States. During the past season nine fawns were captured, reared, and sent to the State game refuge within the Cherokee National Forest in Georgia under a cooperative arrangement with the State. This work should be stimulated. The surplus deer can serve no higher use than forming the nucleus of herds elsewhere. Wild turkey from the Wichita have been successfully transplanted to the Ozark.

The State game departments are becoming aggressive in dealing with game problems. On the White Mountain two State game refuges have been established in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture during the past year. In Alabama the absence of necessary