446 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



But one chance — one hope is left him — the life of the forest ranger. In days 

 to come, when the trapper, the scout, the Indian fighter, even the cowboy 

 are all dim memories, the forest ranger will remain the last embodiment of 

 the Spirit of the West — the link which unites a glorious past to a practical 

 present. Strange it seems to me, that the modern dramatist, who so constantly 

 and eagerly is searching for material for new thrills which he may perpetrate 

 upon the public, has not yet seized upon this bronzed fighter of foi-est fires as 

 his subject. If I were a prophet, I should not hesitate to prophesy that 

 within a few seasons we shall see some Edson or Faversham drawing upon 

 himself the plaudits of the pit by his rendition of the ranger in some thrilling 

 new play — some melodrama of the West. The forerunners of this drama 

 have already appeared — the novelists have begun their work and already two 

 or three books whose heroes are forest rangei's are advertised at the book 

 stalls ; while writers in the special feature sections of the Sunday newspapers 

 find in the life of the ranger material for unlimited copy. 



To my mind, then, when Congress, on March 3, 1891, empowered the 

 President of the United States to withdraw certain forest lands from settle- 

 ment, and later in 1897,provided for the administration of these forest lands 

 as national forests, not only was a new policy inaugurated as to the manage- 

 ment of the forest resources of the Nation, but incidentally, a means was 

 presented of preserving the fascinating and picturesque life of the pioneer 

 and woodsman; for with the necessity of administering the national forests 

 came the work of the forest ranger. 



On January 1, 1911, there were in the United States and its territories, 

 152 national forests. In direct control of these forests are 140 supervisors; 

 but the men who do the real work — "the men behind the guns" (sometimes 

 literally) — in the national forests are the 1,200 rangers, whose duties we 

 are to discuss for a few moments. 



Although perhaps no other subject has been so much before the people 

 of the United States during the last few years as forestry, yet the work of 

 the rangers, and the reasons why we have such a body of men in Uncle Sam's 

 service is perhaps not clearly understood by the average citizen. In a recent 

 article in "Technical World," one writer has said : 



" 'The new profession of forestry' has come to mean to the casual reader 

 a sort of cross between a botanical excursion and a Sunday school picnic. 

 The chief duty of the forest ranger is conceived to be to act as a sort of wet 

 nurse to a lot of pine saplings. And because it is so foreign to American 

 tradition to make a business of saving — rather than making and spending — the 

 man in the street has come to regard forestry as something amateurish and 

 foreign — a newly imported fad ranking with polo and the raising of ringed- 

 tail pheasants as an amusement of the idle rich." 



This, perhaps, is somewhat exaggerated, yet it is nevertheless true that in 

 many sections of the country there is a serious misunderstanding both as to 

 the duties imposed on the guardians of the national forests, and as to the real 

 purpose for which these forests are maintained. I shall not have time to go 

 into the latter question in detail — so large a subject requires treatment by 

 itself — but that we may know why the national government has provided for 

 the establishment of the national forests (which will give us the key to the 

 ranger's duties) allow me to quote from the "Use Book," which is the oflScial 

 code of the forest officer: 



"The national forests are created to preserve a perpetual supply of timber 

 for home industries, to prevent destruction of the forest cover which regulates 



