The Weeks Law

President Taft signed the Weeks Act into law on March 1, 1911. The law authorized the federal government to purchase lands for stream-flow protection, and to maintain the acquired lands as national forests. Initially, eastern lands along navigable watersheds were considered. As the years progressed however, the Forest Service acquired select western lands under the aegis of the Weeks Law.

The Forest Service recommended lands for purchase, while the Geological Survey evaluated the acreage to be sure the reserved lands would maintain navigable waterways. The law authorized a National Forest Reservation Commission to consider and approve the land purchases. The commission was composed of the Secretaries of War, the Interior, and Agriculture, and two Members each, from the House and Senate.

The Commission held its first meeting on March 7, 1911. Twenty days later, Forest Service chief Henry Graves submitted recommendations for the "Purchase of Land under the Weeks Law in the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains." The Forest Service recommended purchasing 13 areas in 9 eastern states. Ultimately, the National Forest Reservation Commission bought 11 of the areas. Those dropped from the list included the Youghiogheny in Maryland and the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. The Smoky Mountains unit was deleted from consideration in 1924, to facilitate its purchase as a National Park.

A 1924 amendment to the Weeks Law, popularly known as the Clarke-McNary Act, authorized purchases of forest land for timber production, in addition to stream-flow protection. This extended the reach of national forest land purchase into the Lake States region.

During its first 21 years, the National Forest Reservation Commission sanctioned the purchase of 42 areas, totaling 4,727,680 acres. When the Forest Service celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Weeks Law in 1961, more than 20 million acres of forest and watershed lands had been purchased or exchanged. Today, most of these lands are the core of the Southern and Eastern National Forest Systems.