§475 Purposes for which national forests may be established and administered

Summary

Keeps in effect any public lands the President reserved before June 4, 1897 under the earlier law, and those reservations are not canceled or paused. New national forests must be managed, as much as possible, under the same rules. A national forest may only be created to improve and protect the trees and land inside it, to help keep water flow healthy, and to provide a steady supply of timber for U.S. citizens. Land that is more valuable for its minerals or for farming must not be included if it is better used for those purposes than for forest use.