e over all other work in the National Forests. Lookout
stations are established on high points to watch for signs of
fire. Airplanes are used on fire patrol over great areas of
forest. Where railroads pass through the National Forests,
rangers operate motor cars and hand-cars over the tracks in their
patrol work. Launches are used in Alaska and on some of the
forests where there are large lakes, to enable the fire fighters
and forest guardians to cover their beats quickly. Every year the
National Forests are being improved and made more accessible by
the building of permanent roads, trails and telephone lines.
Special trails are built to and in the fire protection areas of
remote sections. A network of good roads is constructed in every
forest to improve fire fighting activities as well as to afford
better means of communication between towns, settlements
and farms. The road and trail plan followed in the National
Forests is mapped out years in advance. In the more remote
sections, trails are first constructed. Later, these trails may
be developed into wagon or motor roads. Congress annually
appropriates large sums of money for the building of roads in
the National Forests. Over 25,000 miles of roads and 35,000
miles of trails have already been constructed in these forests.

Communication throughout the National Forests is had by the use
of the telephone and the radio or wireless telephone. Signalling
by means of the heliograph is practiced on bright days in regions
that have no telephones. Arrangements made with private telephone
companies permit the forest officers to use their lines. The
efficient communication systems aid in the administration of the
forests and speeds the work of gathering fire fighters quickly at
the points where smoke is detected.

Agricultural and forestry experts have surveyed the lands in the
National Forests. Thus they have prevented the use of lands for
forestry purposes which are better adapted for farming. Since
1910, more than 26,500,000 acres of lands have been excluded from
the forests. These lands were more useful for farming or grazing
than for forestry. Practically all lands within the National
Forests have now been examined and classified. At intervals
Congress has combined several areas of forest lands into single
tracts. Government lands outside the National Forests have also
been traded for state or private lands within their boundaries.
Thus the forests have been lined-up in