The growth of the National Forests in the public land states of the west was largely a spasmodic mushroom growth. The first Forests were created under the authority of the Act of 1891, which provided merely for reservation without administration. A sudden increase in these areas, through Presidential proclamation, was at first set aside by Congress but resulted in the passage of the Act of June 4, 1897, which provided for the administration and protection of the areas reserved. The great body of timber land under Government ownership today was withdrawn during the ten years following the passage of that Act, the National Forest area, inclusive of Alaska, reaching its maximum April 20, 1910, with a total of 167,710,956 acres, gross.