ABSTRACT

The n a t i o n a l f o r e s t s a r e a l a r g e a r e a o f la n d owned by th e U#S. g o v e rn ­ m ent in th e p r o p r i e t a r y s e n s e , l a r g e l y b u t n o t w h o lly f o r e s t e d , u n d e r m u l t ip l e u se m anagem ent w h ich c o n s id e r s o u tp u ts and v a lu e s f o r w i ld e r n e s s , o u td o o r r e c r e a t i o n , w i l d l i f e , w a te r s h e d , and o th e r p u rp o s e s a s w e l l as wood g row th and h a rv e s t# To u n d e r s ta n d th e n a tu r e and th e r o l e o f n a t i o n a l f o r e s t s in m odem A m erican l i f e , i t i s n e c e s s a r y to c o n s id e r t h e i r h i s t o r y b r i e f l y #

In 1 8 9 1 , C o n g ress e n a c te d th e F o r e s t R e se rv e Act# F or many y e a r s b e ­ f o r e t h i s , some c o n s e r v a t i o n i s t s had b een much a la rm ed by th e r e l a t i v e l y r a p id h a r v e s t in g o f th e v i r g i n f o r e s t s o f th e c o u n t r y , w here e x te n s iv e f i r e s o f t e n fo l lo w e d h a r v e s t , and t r e e r e g e n e r a t io n was s c a n ty o r la c k in g # T hese c o n s e r v a t i o n i s t s had u rg e d v a r io u s m e a su re s upon a l a r g e l y i n d i f f e r e n t Con­ g re s s# P a ssa g e o f th e 1891 A ct had a num ber o f a s p e c t s w h ich c a n n o t be e x -

37p lo r e d in t h i s a r t i c l e # — U nder th e A c t , P r e s id e n t s H a r r is o n and C le v e la n d r e s e r v e d some m i l l i o n s o f a c r e s o f t h e p u b l i c domain# U n t i l 1 8 9 7 , t h e r e was l i t t l e o r no m anagem ent o f t h e s e w ith d raw n la n d s and no l e g a l a u t h o r i t y f o r t h e i r u se in any w ay. In 1 8 97 , C o n g ress p ro v id e d a u t h o r i t y f o r t h e u se and m anagem ent o f th e n a t i o n a l f o r e s t s ( th e n c a l l e d f o r e s t r e s e r v e s ) in l e g i s ­ l a t i o n w h ich i s s t i l l b a s i c to d a y .