_Annual Yield and Cut._ Each year the amount of timber which can be cut from each National Forest, according to sound forestry principles, is authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture. This cut is based upon the best available data as to the amount of mature and over-mature timber needing removal, and the amount of annual growth on each Forest. At the present time only a small percentage of the authorized annual cut of the Forests is taken. Most Forests cut a very small part of their annual allotment, but a few Forests cut their full annual yield, or nearly so. On some Forests, the entire annual yield is used by local industries and no timber can be sent to the general market; on others a very small part of the annual yield is used by local needs and most of the cut can be sent to the general market. On the Cascade National Forest, in Oregon, for instance, the annual production is estimated at about 200,000,000 feet, while the present local needs can be supplied by approximately 1,000,000 feet. From such a Forest a large annual cut can be made for the general market. On the Deerlodge National Forest, in Montana, on the other hand, the annual yield is estimated to be about 40,000,000 feet, all of which is needed to supply the large copper mines near Butte. From Forests like this, no sales for the general market can be made. Although the National Forests contain about six hundred billions of board feet of timber, or about one-fifth of the standing timber in the United States, only a small fraction of the available timber is actually disposed of. This is due to the comparative inaccessibility of this timber and the presence of large bodies of privately owned timber which lie between it and the market. The result of this condition is that the bulk of the salable timber on the Forests will be automatically saved until such a time when most of the privately owned timber has been cut. In this way, future generations will benefit and the public will receive a much better price for it years hence than they could possibly obtain now. _Timber Reconnoissance._ Before any timber can be sold to advantage, however, it is necessary to take an inventory of the timber resources. In other words, it is necessary to know where the timber is, how much there is, and what can be done with it. This timber estimate, or timber reconnoissance, as it is called, is also needed to settle questions of title arising from the presence of patented lands or valid claims; to determine if cutting is advisable on a given area, and, if so, under what stipulations; and to fix the minimum price at which stumpage is to be sold. The annual yield, or the amount of timber grown or produced annually upon an area, must be the ultimate basis of the annual cut, and this yield can only be computed after an inventory of the timber has been made.