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Show FOUR-MILLION ACRES RESTORED i Washington, Feb 9. More than 4,000,OfK) acres or land will bo stripped strip-ped from tho forest reserves of the United States soon and restored to the public domaJn for homestead settlement settle-ment through the government's policy In carrying out Gilford Plnchot'e idea as to the classification of forest . Iand6 . This Is the initial result of President Presi-dent Taft'6 approval of a plan jointly .submitted to him a few das ago by Secretaries Wilson and Balllnger for the re-classlflcaUon of these lands. The lands involved in the restoration restora-tion lor settlement are those not suitable suit-able for forest purpoeen and represent more than 2 per cent of the total forest for-est area As three-tonths of the forest domain ia still unclaimed, it Is difficult tc estimate what will be the total elimination elim-ination when the w hole area has been mapped out. It cannot be stated at this time what withdrawals will be made from the public lands for forest purposes In ' accordance with the policy of classification. classifi-cation. The subject Isvlnder consideration consid-eration and lands best adapted to forest for-est purpospH will be added to the national forests but Ihe matter has not roached concrete form. The great nrea, it was announced today, which would be eliminated from the forests ii scattered throughout the reserves. Tracts In the interior of tho forests and much land along the od?es will he lifted out of the confines of the reserves, re-serves, establishing with greater exactness ex-actness the boundaries of tho forests. Some land eliminated Is suitable for dry farming', though the greater part Is grazing land. These lands, more suitable for tilling and grazing than the growing of trees, will now be placed to profitable use instead of lying idle within national forests. In Idaho, which has a large national forest area, 470.000 acres would be eliminated, of which 34 per cent is tillable Elimination in similar proportion will be mode in other western states The forest ser Ice has been at work since last May collecting data to determine de-termine the proper classification of the lands within the national forest domain, and the plan evolved by the interior and agricultural departments Is expected to Insure the amicable administration of the public lands by tho general land office and the forest bureau. |