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a statute gave forest officers the power to arrest trespassers; and on the 3rd of March the lieu land selection law was repealed.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 The power to create national forests conferred on the president by the act of March 1891 has been repealed for the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but for no others.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 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.
Area of National Forests, Annual Expenditures of the Federal Government for Forestry and National Forest Administration, and Receipts from National Forests, 1898-1909.
| 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.