Federal Land Grab Ends in Washington
Four million acres of national forest land are set to be returned to public entry, marking a shift away from restrictive forestry policies.
As a result of conferences between the secretary of the interior and of agriculture with the president, at least four million acres of agricultural land within national forests are to be restored to entry. Approximately 600,000 acres of these lands lie in the states of Oregon and Washington. The exact definition of the boundaries of areas to be restored are not yet fixed. This marks a new deal in the administration of national forests. The objections of the people of Okanogan, Clallam and Jefferson counties, together with the mighty protest that has gone up from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and other states that, despite the letter of the law, the forestry service blocked all their efforts to obtain agricultural land for settlement within national forests, apparently have been heard. The lands to be restored are ones that the forestry bureau itself has determined are best suited for agriculture, and not needed for forestry purposes.
“It is apparent that real forestry rather than reckless land grabbing, with or without excuse, is to be the moving spirit in the administration of the service.”
This story highlights the perennial tension between federal land management and local economic autonomy in the Pacific Northwest. The struggle to balance conservation with the need for agricultural settlement remains a core theme in Washington's civic discourse today.
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