The aggregate amount of free use material granted annually to any user must not exceed $20 in value, except in cases of unusual need or of dead or insect infested timber, the removal of which would be a benefit to the forest, or in the case of any timber which should be removed and whose sale under contract cannot be effected. In these cases the amount may be extended to $100. Supervisors have authority to grant free use permits up to $100, District Foresters up to $500, and larger amounts must have the approval of the Forester. Free use material is appraised in the same manner and in accordance with the same principles as timber purchased under sale agreements. The valuation of such material is at the same rate as that prevailing for similar grades of stumpage in current sales in the same locality. The magnitude of the free use business may be appreciated from the fact that during the fiscal year 1917 there were 41,427 individuals or companies who received timber under this policy. The total amount thus given away was 113,073,000 board feet valued at over $150,000. Permits for this use are required for green material, but dead timber may be taken without a permit. Supervisors designate as free-use areas certain portions or all of any National Forest and settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors may cut and remove from such areas free of charge under Forest Service regulations any timber needed for their own use for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, or other domestic purposes. Material cut under free-use regulations must not be removed from the cutting area until scaled or measured by a Forest officer. In some cases this requirement is waived when by it the needs of the users are met with greater dispatch and the cost of administration is thereby reduced. The free-use applicant is required to utilize the trees cut in accordance with local Forest Service practice and he is required to avoid unnecessary damage to young growth and standing timber. TIMBER SETTLEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE USE When timber on National Forest land is cut, damaged, killed, or destroyed in connection with the enjoyment of a right-of-way or other special use, it is not necessary to advertise it for sale, but payment therefor is required at not less than the minimum rate established by the Secretary of Agriculture. Timber removed in this way is usually scaled, measured, or counted and the procedure is identical with that of a timber sale. But where timber is destroyed or where it is not worked up in measurable form or where the cutting is done in such a way that scaling is impracticable, settlement is required on the basis of an estimate. [Illustration: Figure 71. Brush piles on a cut-over area before burning. Forest Service methods aim to clean up the forest after logging so that forest fires have less inflammable material to feed on. Bitterroot National Forest, Montana.]