The Clarke–McNary Act of 1924 (ch. 348, , enacted June 7, 1924) was one of several pieces of

United States federal legislation In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...

and was named for

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

John D. Clarke and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Charles McNary Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874February 25, 1944) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the United States Senate, U.S. Senate from 1917 to 1944 and was Party leaders of the United ...

. The 1911

Weeks Act The Weeks Act is a federal law (36 Stat. 961) enacted by the United States Congress on March 1, 1911. Introduced by Massachusetts Congressman John W. Weeks and signed into law by President William Howard Taft, the law authorized the United States S ...

had allowed the purchase of land to enlarge the

National Forest System In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands. National forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned collectively by the American people through the federal government, and managed by t ...

. Two years after the Weeks Act was passed, over 700,000 acres (2,800 km²) had been purchased for the National Forest system in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

. More than 2 million acres (8,000 km²) of land had been purchased by 1920. The Clarke–McNary Act made it much easier for the Forest Service to buy land from willing sellers within predetermined national forest boundaries. It enabled the

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

to work cooperatively with State officials for better

forest protection Forest protection is a branch of forestry which is concerned with the preservation or improvement of a forest and prevention and control of damage to forest by natural or man made causes like forest fires, plant pests, and adverse climatic condi ...

, chiefly in

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

and

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

. It also provided for continuous production of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. Additionally, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

(USDA) began working with private forestland owners in reforestation. That was done by broadening the cooperative efforts to include producing and distributing tree seedlings and providing forestry assistance to farmers. The laws also gave a strong impetus to states to establish and to support state forestry agencies. All 50 states now have a state forestry agency or forestry

extension agency An extension agency is an organisation that practises extension, in the context of community development. An example is the ''Cooperative Extension Service'', which aims to assist individuals or groups in defining and achieving their goals in rural ...

External links

Compilations of Agricultural Law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke-Mcnary Act 1924 in the environment 1924 in American law 1924 in the United States United States federal environmental legislation United States federal public land legislation 68th United States Congress United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes