The Training of a Forester Part 4

The object and methods of one of the a.s.sociations is described by its Secretary as follows:

"A field hitherto narrow but continually broadening, and offering much opportunity for those with peculiar qualifications, is the management of the cooperative forest work carried on by timber owners in many localities, often jointly with State and Government. This movement originated in the Pacific Northwest, where it still has the highest development, but is extending to the Lake States, New England, and Canada.

"As a rule the primary object of these cooperative a.s.sociations is fire prevention and their local managers must have demonstrated ability to organize effective patrol systems, build telephone lines, apply every ingenuity to supplying and equipping their forces, and, above all, to handle men in emergencies. But in most cases the a.s.sociation of forest owners to this end has led also to progress in many other matters inseparable from improvement, such as study of reforestation possibilities, forest legislation, educating lumberman and public in forest preservation, and the extension of cooperation in all these as well as in fire prevention from private to State and federal agencies.

"The development of such activities is already employing several highly paid men who can command the confidence, not only of forest owners, but also of the public and of public officials. Advisers in legislative as well as technical forestry matters and particularly proficient in all that pertains to forest protection, their usefulness lies as much outside their own a.s.sociation as within them, and to be successful they must be skilful organizers and campaigners. It is these men who have developed to its highest extent the adaptation to forestry propaganda of modern publicity and advertising methods.

"As a rule, however, these may be described as graduate positions, filled by men of experience and acquaintance with the several agencies involved, rather than by newly fledged Foresters. A practical knowledge of protection problems is essential."

Forestry a.s.sociations offer a different, but often a most fascinating field, of work for the trained Forester. There are at present 39 such a.s.sociations. The work which they offer has much in common with the duties of a State Forester.

Fish and game a.s.sociations are beginning to employ Foresters, realizing that the wise handling of the forests may well go hand in hand with the care of the game and fish which the forest shelters and protects.

Eventually nearly all such a.s.sociations which control any considerable body of land in timbered regions may be expected to utilize the services of trained Foresters of their own.

In addition to the work for lumbermen and for a.s.sociations of various kinds, land owners in considerable variety have begun to employ Foresters. Among these are coal and c.o.ke companies, iron companies, wood pulp and paper companies which are beginning to look after their supply of timber; powder, arms, and ammunition companies, hydraulic and water companies; a great corporation engaged in the manufacture of matches; and a number of railroads, including the Delaware and Hudson, the Illinois Central, and the Pennsylvania. In addition to the need for cross ties, railroads are among the largest consumers of lumber. The Foresters who work for them are largely occupied with growing the wood supplies which the railroads need, and nursery practice often occupies a very large share of their attention.

FOREST SCHOOLS

Since the first one was founded in 1898, the number of forest schools in the United States has increased so rapidly as to create a demand for forest instructors which it has been exceedingly difficult to fill.

Indeed, the increase in secondary forest schools, or schools not of the first grade, has doubtless been more rapid than the welfare of the profession or the sound practice of forestry required, and the brisk demand for teachers has led some men to take up the task of instruction who were not well fitted for it.

There are in this country to-day 23 forest schools which prepare men for the practice of forestry as a profession, and 51 schools which devote themselves to general instruction in forestry or to courses for Forest Rangers and Forest Guards. The approximate number of teachers in all forest schools is at present 110, and this number will doubtless be still further increased by the addition of new forest schools or the expansion of old ones, while a certain number of places will be made vacant by the retirement of men who find themselves better fitted for other lines of work.

The teaching staff at three of the princ.i.p.al forest schools of the country is as follows:

At School A, 5 men give their whole time to forest instruction, and 14 give courses in the forest school.

Schools B and C have each 4 men who give their whole time to the work; and 4 and 20 respectively who give lectures or individual courses.

In addition to the work for lumbermen, a.s.sociations, railroads, and others just mentioned, an increasing number of Foresters are required to care for the forests on large landed estates in different parts of the country. Work of this kind is at present restricted almost entirely to the East, and especially to New England, where several firms of consulting Foresters give to it the larger portion of their time. Some of the men thus employed are as fully occupied with the tasks of the professional Forester as any of the men in the Government service, while others give a part of their attention to the general management of the property, or to the protection and propagation of game and fish.

THE OPPORTUNITY

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

There is no more useful profession than forestry. The opportunity to make himself count in affairs of public importance comes earlier and more certainly to the Forester than to the member of any other profession. The first and most valuable, therefore, of the incentives which lead the Forester to his choice is the chance to make himself of use to his country and to his generation.

But if this is the first matter to be considered in deciding upon a profession, it is by no means the last, and the practical considerations of a fair return for good work, bread and b.u.t.ter for a man and his family, the certainty or uncertainty of employment,--such questions as these must have their full share of attention.

There are in the United States Forest Service 1059 Forest Guards, 1247 Forest Rangers, 233 Supervisors, and Deputy Supervisors, and 115 Forest a.s.sistants and 177 Forest Examiners who, as already explained, are the technical men in charge of practical forestry on the National Forests.

The six District offices together include in their membership about 50 professional Foresters, and about 65 more are attached to the headquarters at Washington, so that allowing for duplications there are about 335 trained Foresters in the United States Forest Service.

The number of new appointments to the Forest Service in the different permanent grades varies from year to year but may be said to be approximately as follows: Rangers, 240 new appointments; Forest a.s.sistants, 35; other technical positions, 10. All appointments as Supervisor are by promotion from the lists of Forest Rangers or Forest Examiners.

The yearly pay of the Forest Guard, who, like the Ranger, must be a citizen of the State in which his work lies, is from $420 to $900.

Forest Rangers, who enter the Service through Civil Service examination, receive from $1100 to $1500 per annum. Forest Supervisors, practically all of whom are men of long experience in forest work, receive from $1600 to $2700 per annum. Forest a.s.sistants enter the Forest Service through Civil Service examination at a salary of $1200 per annum, and are promoted to a maximum salary of $2500 per annum, as Forest Examiners. Professional Foresters at work in the District offices are recruited mainly from among the Forest a.s.sistants and Examiners. They receive from $1100 to $3200 yearly. The technical men in charge at Washington get from $1100 to $5000 per annum, which last is the pay of the Forester, at the head of the Service.

STATE SERVICE

The pay of the State Foresters, or other trained Foresters in charge of State work, ranges from $1800 to $4000, and that of their technical a.s.sistants from $1000 to $2500. Out of the total number, only 2 are directly in charge of their own work, responsible only to the Governor and the Legislature, while 19 act as subordinates for State forest commissions or commissioners, who in the majority of cases are political appointees. In striking contrast with the United States Forest Service, politics has so far been a dangerous, if not a dominating, influence in the forest work of most of the States which have undertaken it.

Like the National Forests, the State Forests already in existence will create an increasing demand for the service of technical Foresters.

Indeed, as similar forests are acquired by most of the States which are now without them, as undoubtedly they will be, the extent of the opportunity for professionally trained Foresters in State work is certain to grow.

PRIVATE WORK

At present, the demand for Foresters in private work is far less pressing and the opening is far less attractive than it will be in the not distant future. The number of men that will be required for this work will depend on the development of legislation as well as upon the desire of the private owners, lumbermen and others, to protect and improve their property. The time is coming, and coming before long, when all private owners of forests in the mountains, or on steep slopes elsewhere, will be required by law to provide for their protection and reproduction. When that time arrives, the demand for Foresters in private work will increase to very large dimensions, and will probably do so far more rapidly than Foresters can be trained to supply it.

The pay of Foresters in private work, whether in the employ of lumbermen, railroads, shooting and fishing clubs, the proprietors of large private estates, or other forest owners, has so far been somewhat better than that for similar services in Government employ. This money difference in favor of private employment is, in my judgment, likely to continue, and eventually the pay of consulting Foresters of established reputation employed in pa.s.sing upon the value of forests offered as security for investments, or in estimating the standing timber for purchasers or sellers, or in other professional work of large business importance, will certainly reach very satisfactory figures.

TEACHING

Approximately 110 Foresters are engaged in teaching in the United States to-day. Their pay varies from about $1000 to about $3000, and is likely to increase rather more rapidly than that of other professional teachers, since less of them are available. It is not likely, however, that the number of openings in teaching forestry will be large within the next ten years.

TRAINING

The length of time which his training is to take and the particular courses of instruction which he shall pursue are to the young man contemplating the study of forestry matters of the first importance. The first thing to insist on in that connection is that the training must be thorough. It is natural that a young man should be eager to begin his life work and therefore somewhat impatient of the long grind of a thorough schooling. But however natural, it is not the part of wisdom to cut short the time of preparation. When the serious work of the trained Forester begins later on, there will be little or no time to fill the gaps left at school, and the earnest desire of the young Forester will be that he had spent more time in his preparation rather than less. In this matter I speak as one who has gathered a conviction from personal experience, and believes he knows.

It would be useless to attempt to strike an average of the work prescribed and the courses given at the various forest schools. I shall describe, therefore, not an average system of instruction but one which, in the judgment of men ent.i.tled to an opinion, and in my own judgment, is sound, practical, and effective.

Forest schools may roughly be divided between those which do not prepare men for professional work in forestry, and those which do. The latter may be divided again into undergraduate schools and graduate schools.

Most of the former offer a four-year undergraduate course, and their students receive their degrees at the same time as other members of the University who entered at the same time with them. The graduate schools require a college degree, or its equivalent in certain subjects, before they will receive a student. The men who have completed their courses have usually, therefore, pursued more extensive and more advanced studies in forestry, are better trained, and are themselves older and more ready to accept the responsibilities which forestry brings upon them. For these reasons, the graduate school training is by far the more desirable, in my opinion.

The subjects required for entrance to a graduate forest school should include at least one full year in college botany, covering the general morphology, histology, and physiology of plants, one course each in geology, physics, inorganic chemistry, zoology, and economics, with mathematics through trigonometry, and a reading knowledge of French or German. Some acquaintance with mechanical drawing is also desirable but not absolutely necessary. Other courses which are extremely desirable, if not altogether essential, are mineralogy, meteorology, mechanics, physical geography, organic chemistry, and possibly calculus, which may be of use in timber physics.

One or two forest schools begin their course of training for the first year in July instead of in October, in order to give their students some acquaintance with the woods from the Forester's standpoint before the more formal courses begin. The result of this plan is to give increased vividness and reality to all the courses which follow the work in the woods, to make clear the application of what is taught, and so to add greatly to the efficiency of the teaching.

In addition to this preliminary touch with the woods, any wise plan of teaching will include many forest excursions and much practical field work as vitally important parts of the instruction. This outdoor work should occur throughout the whole course, winter and summer, and in addition, the last term of the senior year may well be spent wholly in the woods, where the students can be trained in the management of logging operations and milling, and can get their final practice work in surveying and map-making, in preparing forest working plans, estimating timber, laying out roads and trails, making plans for lumber operations, and other similar practical work. Several of the best forest schools have adopted this plan.

The regular courses of a graduate forest school usually cover a period of two years. They should fit a student for nearly every phase of professional work in forestry, and should give him a sound preparation not merely for practical work in the woods, but also for the broader work of forest organization in the Government Service in the United States and in the Philippines, and in the service of the States; for handling large tracts of private forest lands; for expert work in the employ of lumbermen and other forest owners; for public speaking and writing; for teaching; and for scientific research.

Every well equipped forest school will have a working library of books, pamphlets, and lumber journals published here and abroad, an herbarium at least of native trees and shrubs and of the more important forest herbs, together with a collection of forest tree fruits and seeds, and specimens of domestic and foreign timbers. Exhibits showing the uses of woods and the various forms of tools used in lumbering, as well as the apparatus for laboratory work and surveying, and forest instruments for work in the field, are often of great value to the student.