Men Who Matched the Mountains: The Forest Service in the Southwest

Back in the 30's when land was still cheap in New Mexico, the Forest Service sought to obtain the 91,000 acres of the Rancho del Rio Grande Grant, in Taos County, then owned by a lumber company. This was part of a program authorized by Congress to consolidate National Forest lands. The Government appraiser set a value of $4.75 an acre on the land, and an exchange for timber and other lands of equal value was sought. The owners of the Rio Grande Grant were interested in disposing of the big block of acreage which was surrounded by National Forest, but decided to hold out for $5.00 an acre. The appraiser stuck with the $4.75 figure, and the deal fell through.

After World War II, the Forest Service again attempted an exchange. In the meantime, ownership of the grant had changed hands. Again the exchange fell through because of only pennies difference in the Government appraisal and the asked-for price.

Later the grant lands were sold to another timber operator, Rounds and Porter, a Kansas company. In 1960, the Forest Service decided to try again to bring about an exchange of timber and other lands elsewhere in the Region for the big block of forest lands within the boundaries of the Carson National Forest. Ralph Rounds, the head of the company, expressed an interest in the offer. But to put together a package of lands and timber which would interest the lumber company proved to be a problem. Then Ralph Rounds died, and negotiations had to be followed up with the Rounds estate.

The estate was interested in a cash sale, but not in a direct exchange. Under the law authorizing exchanges, the Forest Service could exchange lands and timber for other lands within the Forest, but could not make an outright purchase.

The only other method to bring about the exchange was to find a third person who would pay cash for the lands which were exchanged for the Rio Grande Grant. This turned out to be a very complicated procedure. No one purchaser could be located, and the third-person purchasers finally added up to 57.

The Rio Grande Grant was appraised now at approximately $19.00 an acre for a total of $1,727,297.78. This proved acceptable, and government-owned parcels of land on the fringes of the Forest elsewhere had to be put together in a package for exchange to the 57 willing purchasers. These 57 were made up of people who had been applying for years to Rangers for an opportunity to obtain lands on which they were permittees or who wanted to develop summer home sites or obtain grazing lands adjoining patented lands, etc. The Lands Division under the direction of the then-chief, Zane Smith, put together a total package of 52,870 acres in various parts of the State of New Mexico—Tijeras Canyon, Taos, Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, and grazing lands near Magdalena and Mountainair. The next step was for the would-be purchasers to place their purchase price in escrow.

When all of the surveys had been made, the complexity of documents typed and checked, the Rio Grande Grant became government property, payments from 57 people went to Rounds and Porter, and the 57 in turn received deeds to the lands they had selected.

This complicated process took two years to complete, and in the final stages took intensive hours of work to meet final deadlines.

The completion of the Rio Grande Grant exchange brought a letter of commendation from Richard E. McArdle, Chief Forester, to then Regional Forester Fred Kennedy.

"When I discussed this case with you and Zane Smith a few years back, I frankly was quite doubtful that you could work it out," McArdle wrote. "I am delighted that you have done so. I am impressed by your resourcefulness and ingenuity in working out the details of this exchange." In a penned note at the bottom Chief McArdle wrote: "This is a real accomplishment. I take my hat off to you folks."

The Regional Forester passed the letter along to Zane Smith, then Lands Chief, with a notation at the bottom of the letter, "I feel exceptionally proud of the folks in my outfit who did the work."

Alan Watkins, long-time career employee in the Forest Service, and one of those who had worked on the exchange, recalls that Zane Smith made copies of the Chiefs letter for all who had worked on the exchange, and added a letter of his own. They are cherished mementoes.

Smith in his letter to his staff said the exchange was "the most complicated case I have known" and that it was accomplished because of "fine work done by clerks, staff, stenographers, draftsmen, Rangers, Supervisors and the Regional Office."

Zane Smith noted that "the expression of appreciation is directed to the office workers as well as others. This was not accidental as everyone knows the exchange could not have been accomplished within the time limit without the extra effort and overtime by the girls."

This solving of a land problem is just one example of the activities dealing with the use, occupancy, and ownership of lands within the boundaries of the National Forests in Region 3. Such activities have been multitudinous and important almost since the establishment of the National Forests. Because of the relatively mild climate, people have been attracted to the Southwest ever since the first explorations by the Spanish conquistadores. Nearly every tract of land which was sufficiently level to be cultivated was occupied under the Homestead Laws during the years when homesteading was permissible. Any area with a showing of mineral was patented under the mining laws. Except for the Forest Homestead Act, the authorities for patenting both homestead and mining claims existed prior to the National Forest.

D. D. Cutler, of the Lands Division, reporting on land exchange problems, noted that in addition to such authorization to dispose of public land, an Act of 1866 for the Benefit of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad authorized the company to select a right-of-way 100 feet in width along the entire length of its track and also the odd-numbered sections within a strip 40 miles wide on either side of the track to be used to offset costs of the construction of the railroad. This Act later was amended to extend the selection to the odd-numbered sections in an additional 10-mile strip on either side of the track if such was needed to offset the loss of land within the 40-mile strip where it crossed Indian and military reservations or had been otherwise patented. The railroad was completed from east to west across the entire region prior to the establishment of any National Forest.

The Act of 1897, which provided for administration of the National Forest Reserves, also authorized the railroad and others to reconvey their lands within the National Forest for unappropriated public domain anywhere in the United States. This was known as the lieu selection authority, and there was a very active program to consolidate the National Forest ownership with the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests until 1905 when this authority was repealed by Congress.

Water has been a most important asset in the use of land in the Southwest. By "hook or crook" each claimant for public domain attempted to include within his claim the available water. Thus, much of the water from springs and live streams was included within the homestead and mineral patents. Lands along stream bottoms controlled routes of easiest access to the remaining National Forest, and water controlled the use of adjacent land. As land management became more important and public pressures demanded better use of the land, impediments resulting from private ownership of water and access routes became more onerous. It soon was evident that many of these tracts should be returned to public ownership. The Act of March 20, 1922, for the purposes of consolidating National Forests, was Congress' recognition of the problem. Region 3 was quick to take advantage of this authority.

In addition to the above-mentioned problems, in New Mexico there were considerable areas of high-water yield, multiple-resource lands granted to private interests by the King of Spain or the Government of Mexico prior to the time Arizona and New Mexico were ceded to the United States. The abusive use of these lands by private owners resulted in considerable public criticism because of the great need for water coming from these watersheds. In 1925, special acts were passed by Congress which authorized the exchange for National Forest timber of two of these grants to the United States. In 1928, the 1922 Act was extended to authorize exchanges of any of the Spanish or Mexican Land Grants adjacent to the Carson, Santa Fe, and Manzano National Forests for National Forest land or timber. Upon consummation of the exchange, these lands automatically became part of the National Forests to which they were adjacent. Many land exchange cases have been processed through the years under this authority.

Also within New Mexico, the State acquired title to relatively large areas of public domain within the National Forest as a result of the Act of January 16, 1897. The State Land office was assigned the responsibilities for management of these tracts, but was never financed to carry out the responsibilities. As with the land grants, public opinion demanded something better. In 1926, the State Enabling Act of 1910 was amended to permit the State of New Mexico to enter into land-for-land exchanges with the United States in which it would offer its lands for either public domain or National Forest land or timber.

In the 1930's, cooperative agreements were signed by the State Land Commissioner and the Regional Forester under which the Forest Service would manage the timber resources. However, these agreements broke down for various reasons. In the late 1940's, as the result of discussions between the Forest Service and the State Land Commissioner, the Commissioner concluded that his office was not staffed to do the management job in the timber type, and for that reason he would proceed with a program to completely exchange out of the National Forests. This has resulted in a considerable load of lands work during the past 20 years. Only a few tracts of State land now remain within the Carson and Lincoln National Forests, and all of those within the Carson are in an active case.

In summary, 520 land exchange cases have been processed in the Region as of June 30, 1969, by which the United States has acquired 1,283,109 acres and granted in return 831,219 acres of land and 450,000,000 bd. ft. of timber. In addition, 25,265 acres have been purchased under Weeks Law and other authorities, and 275,390 acres have been given National Forest status through transfer from other Federal ownership.

Special land uses also have been a heavy lands workload throughout the history of the Forest Service. In all cases where parties other than the Forest Service wish to use parcels of the National Forest more or less exclusively, a special-use permit is issued. The Forest Service job consists of examining, issuing permits, and inspecting improvements for compliance with standards established to protect the National Forest land and resources against abuse. In the early history of the National Forests, many of these permits were for pastures to be used in connection with homesteads and ranch units, stockman cabins used in connection with grazing permits, irrigation ditches, reservoirs, telephone lines, powerlines, summer homes, and so forth. Because of the numerous homesteads and occupancies within the National Forests, these uses were numerous. More recently, the need for electronic sites has increased rapidly. Ordinarily, the highest elevations above sea level are the best suited. The National Forests occupying these high lands have experienced the greatest pressure for this special use. Each National Forest has specially designated and planned electronic sites. Many permits have been issued. Many of these sites are occupied by the military and other Federal agencies and universities with extremely expensive facilities costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Sac Peak for upper air research, near Cloudcroft on the Lincoln; Mount Hopkins and Mount Lemmon on the Coronado; portions of the Sandia Laboratory on the Cibola; and VELA Project on the Tonto are examples. Also, in recent years, there are powerlines transmitting tremendous voltages, high pressure gas lines, and a cross-country coal slurry line, all of which occupy considerable area. These require detailed engineering and considerable treatment to protect the National Forest resources. Many hours of work have been required to properly coordinate construction of these projects with the needs of the other National Forest resources and their uses.

Exploration for minerals in the Southwest has been and continues to be active. While the use of the surface of the mining claim for mining purposes is generally at the discretion of the claimant, the Forest Service is responsible for use of the adjoining National Forest for roads and other off-claim needs. Through close cooperation on the ground, it is often possible to direct the use of the surface on the claims in such a manner that the adjacent National Forest resources are not damaged. The Forest Service must also be assured that the claims are not being used for the non-mining purposes. Inasmuch as many of the National Forests were heavily involved with claims, estimated at one time to be several hundred thousand, the supervision of mining activities continues to be an important task. Also, the Forest Service was assigned the task of clearing the surface rights on all National Forest lands in accordance with the Multiple Use Mining Act of 1955. More recently, the exploration and development of oil and gas resources has increased tremendously. Few acres of National Forests in New Mexico and northern Arizona have not been under lease. The coordination of these activities with the use and protection of the other National Forest resources has required many hours of work.

With the tremendous increase in recreation time available to the ever-increasing population and the improvements in transportation, the pressures on the available land and resources will continue to increase accordingly. The importance of the lands activities will likely increase rather than diminish.