Our National Forests Part 5

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE FORESTRY WORK IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN 1905

_The Act of February 1, 1905._ The necessity of consolidating the various branches of government forest work became apparent and was urged upon Congress by President Roosevelt and by the executive officers concerned. This was finally accomplished by the act of February 1, 1905, by which entire jurisdiction over the Forest Reserves was transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture. Matters of surveying and pa.s.sage of t.i.tle, however, were still kept under the jurisdiction of the General Land Office. By this act the Division of Forestry for the first time in its career became an administrative organization. On July 1 of the same year the Bureau of Forestry became the Forest Service and in 1907 the change of name from "Forest Reserves" to "National Forests" was made to correct the impression that the forests were like reserves which had been withdrawn from use.

_Early Forestry Education and Literature._ The Act of February 1, 1905, was the final step which established the federal policy with regard to our National Forests. At this stage it will be interesting to note briefly the status of the science of American Forestry and of forestry education. As late as the spring of 1898 there was no science or literature on American Forestry, nor could education in the subject be procured in the country. But soon thereafter several forestry schools were established, namely, Cornell Forestry School in 1898, Yale School of Forestry and Biltmore Forest School in 1899, and the University of Michigan Forestry School in 1903. The beginning of the twentieth century saw the first professional foresters graduated and taking upon themselves the task of applying scientific forestry methods to the National Forests. Further evidence of the growth of the profession of forestry was the organization of the Society of American Foresters in 1900. The first professional journal was started in 1902 as the _Forestry Quarterly_, and other scientific forestry literature was issued by the Government. The scientific knowledge gathered in the field work since 1898 has taken the form of a rapidly growing literature on the subject which has formed the basis of the science of American Forestry.

_Changes in the Forest Service Personnel._ By 1905 the work of the Forest Service had increased to such an extent that the number of employees was increased to 821. With the opening of the forestry schools, professional foresters became available and the National Forests then began to be put into the hands of expert scientific men.

Gradually the old type of untrained, non-scientific woodsman is being replaced by the trained forester. In addition, the entire force was made a part of the cla.s.sified Civil Service and the plan of political appointees was banished forever.

_More National Forests Created._ While the administration of the National Forests was being adjusted the area of National Forests was constantly being increased. To the 40,000,000 acres of Reserves set aside by Presidents Harrison and Cleveland before 1897, President McKinley added over 7,000,000 acres until 1901. When Roosevelt became President the National Forest policy received an added impetus and vigor. Being a great lover of the out-of-door-life and being especially well acquainted, on account of his extensive travels, with the great western country, President Roosevelt threw his powerful influence into the balance. With the close cooperation of Mr. Gifford Pinchot, his warm personal friend, and at that time the Chief Forester, Mr. Roosevelt set aside between 1901 and 1909 over 148,000,000 acres of National Forests, more than three times as much as had been set aside by all his predecessors together. Since 1909 a careful adjustment of the boundaries has been going on, both Presidents Taft and Wilson adding small areas here and there, which were found valuable for forestry purposes, or eliminating small areas found to have no value. Acts of Congress pa.s.sed since 1907 prohibit the addition by the President to the National Forests already established in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Additions can be made in these States only by special act of Congress. A number of such acts have been pa.s.sed; some of them upon pet.i.tions of the people in these States.

_The Growth of the Forest Service._ The growth of the Forest Service between 1897 and 1917 is little short of marvelous. The number of its employees has increased from 61 in 1898 to 3,544 on June 30, 1917. The annual appropriations have increased from less than $30,000 in 1897 to $5,712,275 for the fiscal year 1918. But besides this appropriation for 1918 the Weeks Law calls for an expenditure of $2,100,000 and the Federal Aid Road Act for $1,000,000 more. The receipts of the National Forests have also increased by leaps and bounds. In 1897 the receipts were practically negligible in amount but by 1906 they had reached approximately $800,000. In the fiscal year 1917 they were more than $3,457,000.

_Recent Modifications in the Organization._ Further slight modifications in the organization, as established in 1905, were made since that date. Before 1908 all the work of the Forests was supervised from the main office in Washington and this arrangement caused much delay and inconvenience in carrying on the business of the Forests. In the fall of 1908 six administrative districts were established, to which another was added in 1914. By this arrangement the National Forests are divided into 7 groups and each group has a district headquarters in a large city or town centrally located in the group. The District Office acts as sort of clearing house for all National Forest business. All matters in the administration and protection of the National Forests that cannot be settled on the Forest or appear to be of general importance to the district are taken to the District Office, which is in charge of a District Forester and several a.s.sistants. Beginning in 1909 Forest Experiment Stations were established in each district and in 1910 the Forest Products Laboratory, the first one of its kind in the world, was formally opened at Madison, Wisconsin. The Weeks Law, pa.s.sed on March 1, 1911, provides for the acquisition of forest lands on the watersheds of navigable streams in the Appalachian and White Mountains. Up to June 30, 1917, over 1,500,000 acres have been approved for purchase in these mountains. The Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina was recently organized from purchased lands.

THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF THE FOREST SERVICE

_The Administrative Districts._ The administration of the National Forests and the conduct of all matters relating to forestry which have been placed upon the Department of Agriculture are in charge of the Forester whose office is in Washington, D. C. To facilitate the administration of the Forests 7 districts have been established with headquarters in the following places:

District 1. (Montana, northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northwestern South Dakota) Missoula, Montana.

District 2. (Colorado, Wyoming, the remainder of South Dakota, Nebraska, northern Michigan, and northern Minnesota) Denver, Colorado.

District 3. (Most of Arizona and New Mexico) Albuquerque, New Mexico.

District 4. (Utah, southern Idaho, western Wyoming, eastern and central Nevada, and northwestern Arizona) Ogden, Utah.

District 5. (California and western Nevada) San Francisco, California.

District 6. (Washington, Oregon, and Alaska) Portland, Oregon.

District 7. (Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, and the newly purchased areas in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alabama,) Washington, D. C.

Each administrative district embraces a number of National Forests and is in charge of a Forest officer known as the District Forester who is responsible to the Forester for all administrative and technical work performed within the district. Each District Forester is aided by several a.s.sistants and by specialists in various lines of work.

Each National Forest is in charge of a Forest Supervisor who may have a Deputy and a Forest a.s.sistant or Forest Examiner to a.s.sist him if the amount of business on a National Forest warrants it. Each National Forest is subdivided into Ranger districts for the purpose of facilitating the protection work. Each Ranger district is in charge of a Ranger who may be a.s.sisted by other Rangers or Forest Guards.

_The Washington Office._ The work of the Forest Service in Washington is organized under the Office of Forester and the Branches of Operation, Lands, Silviculture, Research, Grazing, Engineering, and Acquisition of lands under the Weeks Law. The Office of Forester includes the a.s.sociate Forester, the Editor, the Dendrologist, the Chief of Accounts, besides Inspectors and Lumbermen. The Branch of Operation administers and supervises the business organization of the Forest Service and has general supervision of the personnel, quarters, equipment, and supplies of the Service and all the fire protection and permanent improvement work on the National Forests. The Branch of Lands examines and cla.s.sifies lands in the Forests to determine their value for forest purposes, conducts the work in connection with claims on the Forests prior to proceedings before United States registers and receivers, and a.s.sists the Chief Engineer of the Service in handling matters in connection with the occupation and use of the National Forest lands for hydro-electric power purposes. The Branch of Silviculture supervises the sale and cutting of timber on the National Forests and cooperates with States in protecting forest lands under Section 2 of the Weeks Law.

The Branch of Research has supervision over the investigative work of the Service, including silvicultural studies, studies of state forest conditions, investigations of the lumber and wood-using industries and lumber prices, and the investigative work carried on at the Forest Products Laboratory and the Forest Experiment Stations. The Branch of Grazing supervises the grazing of live stock upon the National Forests, allotting grazing privileges and dividing the ranges between different owners and cla.s.ses of stock. It is also charged with the work of improving depleted grazing lands and of cooperating with the Federal and state authorities in the enforcement of stock quarantine regulations.

The Branch of Engineering has to do with the proper designing and planning of roads, trails, and bridges; with the engineering problems involved in granting permits to hydro-electric plants in the Forests; and with the making of forest maps, surveys, improving the forest atlas, and other drafting work. The Branch of Acquisition of Lands under the Weeks Law has charge of examining and evaluating such lands which are offered for purchase and recommending suitable lands for purchase under the act.

_The District Offices._ Each District Office (of which there are 7) is organized in the main along the same lines as the Washington office.

Each Branch in the Washington office is represented in the District Office by an a.s.sistant District Forester or some similar official.

The Office of the District Forester has in addition the Office of Solicitor (Forest Service Branch), which is in charge of an a.s.sistant to the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture. He is the advisor to the District Forester in all matters of law which arise in the administration of the National Forests. His opinions are usually binding except that, in urgent cases, appeal may be taken to the Solicitor of the Department at Washington through the Forester. Many cases of law arise on the National Forests such as cases of timber, fire, and grazing trespa.s.s. All these are handled in the Office of the District Forester.

The Office of Accounts in the districts is in charge of the District Fiscal Agent who is an a.s.sistant to the Chief of Accounts in the Washington Office. Three of the districts have a Branch of Products. The Experiment Stations in the districts are under the supervision of the District Forester and the men in charge of them bear the same relation to the District Office as the Supervisor of a National Forest. Most of the districts also have in the Office of Silviculture a Consulting Pathologist who has charge of all problems relating to tree diseases.

The following scheme will ill.u.s.trate in a general way the organization of the Forest Service and show how the National Forests are administered at the present time:

CHAPTER II

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS

Under the head of administration we must necessarily understand those factors which are essential to carry on the business of the National Forests. First of all we must consider the personnel, that is, the men that make up the organization by means of which the work on the Forests is done. Next we must learn how the money for this large enterprise is appropriated each year to carry on the work, and how it is divided up so that each National Forest gets an amount each year in proportion to its needs. Then again men and money are of little avail without tools, equipment, and supplies. The proper distribution of these to the 147 National Forests is no small business organization in itself. Lastly we must learn of the many permanent improvements which are made on the National Forests which are absolutely necessary for their proper administration, protection and use. No large constructive forestry enterprise is complete without these. They consist of the construction of means of transportation, means of communication, and living quarters for the personnel; of extensive planting of young trees to reestablish forests which have been destroyed by fires; the carrying on of research and experiments to aid in the development of the best methods of forestry; and the cla.s.sification and segregation of agricultural lands and the establishment of permanent boundaries. All these matters must necessarily be considered before we attempt to learn about the protection and the utilization of the National Forests.

PERSONNEL

_Duties of Forest Officers._ Forest officers are the servants of the people and they are expected to a.s.sist in every way possible those who wish to use the resources of the Forests. Their first duty is to enforce the regulations under which all permits, leases, sales, and rentals are made. These regulations cover every phase of National Forest activity and in conducting business under them they must not let personal or other interests weigh against the good of the Forests. For the good of the Forest Service their conduct must be prompt and courteous and their business methods sensible and effective. They make it their business to prevent misunderstandings and violations of forest regulations rather than to correct mistakes after they have been made.

On the National Forests there are permanent employees and temporary employees. Under the former heading come the Forest Supervisor, the Deputy Supervisor, the Forest a.s.sistant, the Forest Ranger, Lumbermen, Sealers, Planting a.s.sistants, and Forest Clerks. Under the latter category come the Forest Guards, the Field a.s.sistants, and the Temporary Laborers. All permanent positions are in the cla.s.sified Civil Service.

Vacancies are filled from a certified list of those who have pa.s.sed a Civil Service examination or by promotion from the lower ranks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 9. Forest officers in front of the Forest Supervisor's summer headquarters. Note the many telephone wires that lead from the office. This is 50 miles from the railroad. La.s.sen National Forest, California.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 10. Scene in front of the Forest Supervisor's headquarters. Sheep leaving the National Forest summer range in the fall to go to winter range in the valley. La.s.sen National Forest, California.]

_The Forest Supervisor._ A Forest Supervisor is in charge of each National Forest and he plans the work of the Forest and supervises its execution. He works, of course, under direct instruction from the District Forester and is responsible to him. When the amount of business on the Forest warrants it he is a.s.sisted by a Deputy Supervisor.

Both these positions are filled by the promotion of experienced men in the cla.s.sified Civil Service. The Forest Supervisor's headquarters are located in towns conveniently situated with regard to the most important points in his Forest. The town is usually located on a railroad and centrally located with regard to the various Ranger districts of his Forest. His headquarters are usually the center of the system of roads and trails which covers his entire Forest. From his office also the telephone system radiates in all directions to his various District Rangers. In short, the Forest Supervisor's office is so situated that he has at all times full knowledge of all the activities of his Forest; he is therefore in a position to give advice and directions by telephone to his Rangers and other subordinates almost at any time of the day or night. Such intimate communication is of especial importance during the fire season.

Some Forests have two headquarters, one that is occupied in the winter and the other that is occupied in the summer. The summer quarters is usually most advantageously situated as far as the business of the Forest is concerned, but owing to deep snow, which seriously interferes with mail and telephone connections, a more accessible winter quarters is occupied from October to May.

The force of men the Forest Supervisor has working under him varies of course with the amount of work to be performed. The permanent force is usually from 10 to 15 men, which during the fire season may be increased to from 25 to 40 and in cases of great fire emergency sometimes to several hundred men, by the addition of temporary employees.

_The Forest a.s.sistant._ The other permanent men on a National Forest are the Forest a.s.sistant or Forest Examiner, Forest Rangers, and a Forest clerk with his a.s.sistant, the Stenographer and Typewriter. The Forest a.s.sistant or Examiner ranks next to the Deputy and his work is directed by the Forest Supervisor, to whom he makes his reports. The Forest a.s.sistant is the technical man of the Forest force, who upon making good is promoted to Forest Examiner. He is employed upon such technical lines of work as the examination and mapping of forest areas; reports on applications for the purchase of timber; marking, scaling, and managing timber sales; the survey of boundaries; and nursery and planting work.

Not only is a Forest a.s.sistant called upon to perform these various lines of technical work. The very nature of the country he is in indicates that he must be an all-round practical man. He must be able to ride, pack, and drive. He must often live alone and therefore must do his own cooking, washing, and take care of other personal needs.

He must be strong and healthy and capable of undergoing hardships, at least be able to stand long days of walking, climbing, and horseback riding. His various duties and the different situations that arise often call for knowledge and practical ability as a carpenter, a mechanic, a plumber, an engineer, a surveyor, and many other lines of work.

Perhaps more important than his education and ability are his personal qualifications. His temperament must be such that he must feel satisfied and contented under the most trying conditions. He must be able to do without most of the comforts of modern civilization for most of the time. For these reasons the country-bred western youths are more liable to make a success of the work than the city-bred easterner.

_The Forest Ranger._ The Forest Ranger's position is one of the most important and at the same time the most difficult positions on our National Forests.

The Forest Ranger's headquarters are usually at the nearest business center to his district and if that is not practicable permanent headquarters are provided on the Forest. In any case his station is located as near to the center of the business activity of his district as possible. If his headquarters are centrally located in his district, trails, roads, and telephone lines lead out from his cabin to all parts of his district. His station is built and maintained at government expense and usually has, besides his living quarters, a barn, tool-house, pasture, corral, and other necessary improvements.

The Forest Ranger performs such routine work as the supervision of timber sales, grazing, free use, special use, and other contracts and permits, the carrying out of the protection and improvement plans for his district, and other administrative duties. The average Forest Ranger has a territory of from 75,000 to 150,000 acres to take care of. On June 30, 1917, there were about 1,100 Forest Rangers employed on the National Forests who were a.s.sisted by over 900 a.s.sistant Forest Rangers and Forest Guards. The protective force was therefore about one man for every 77,800 acres or about 121 square miles.

The Forest Ranger must be a man who is physically sound and capable of enduring great hardships. He is often required to do heavy manual labor in fighting fire under the most trying conditions. For this reason he must have great endurance. They are usually men who have been brought up in timber work, on ranches or farms, or with the stock business. They are therefore thoroughly familiar with the region in which they are to be employed and especially acquainted with the rough, semi-primitive life which is characteristic of remote places in the West.

He must be able to take care of himself and his horses in regions remote from settlement and supplies. He must be able to build trails, roads and cabins; he must be able to ride, pack, and drive and deal tactfully with all cla.s.ses of people. He must know something about land surveying, estimating, and scaling timber; of logging, mining laws, and the live stock business. His duties include patrol to prevent fire and trespa.s.s; estimating, surveying, and marking timber; the supervision of cutting and similar work. He is authorized to issue permits, build cabins and trails, oversee grazing business, investigate mining and agricultural claims, report upon applications, and report upon and arrest for the violation of Forest laws and regulations.

_The Forest Clerk._ The Forest Clerk performs the clerical work and the book-keeping in the Forest Supervisor's office. He sometimes has a Stenographer and Typewriter to a.s.sist him and to do the mechanical work of correspondence. Lumbermen are specialists who are thoroughly well versed in all that pertains to logging, milling, scaling, and cruising timber. They are a.s.signed temporarily to Forests where need for their work arises. Scalers are men thoroughly familiar with the art of scaling or measuring logs, ties, poles, cord wood and other forest products.

Planting a.s.sistants are specialists in nursery and planting work. Their duties include the preparation of seed beds, seed sowing, transplanting and care of seedlings, and field planting. They are a.s.signed to the Forest Service nurseries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WORK OF FOREST OFFICERS IN THE WINTER