THE NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRATION 867 



wise have no chance to attain positions new blood which wdll be necessary, 



of responsibiHty. Deplorable as is the and the opportunity for original work 



destruction of forests and foresters in repairing the damage to the forests, 



which the war will cause, there is, how- may be expected to give a new stimulus 



ever, hope that some good may come to the profession in which at present 



in the long run. The introduction of practice lags behind theory. 



THE NATIONAL FOREST 

 ADMINISTRATION* 



By David F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture 



[A change in administering the national forests in undeveloped sections is recommended by 

 Secretary of Agriculture Houston in his annual report, so that they will yield, at once, revenue 

 that >"an ' e applied to local development and thereby further assist settltrs and inspire settle- 

 ments. This plan is fo*- Congress to provide money in advance for local improvement, especially 

 road construction, and charge this against a county's shart of timber sales when the timber is 

 sold by the government. The Secretary's recommendations aie in part given in the following 

 extracts from his report — Editor.] 



' * f N regions where timber is the chief nized in the provisions of law for the 



I income-producing resource absence use of 35% of all gross receipts from the 



X of demand for it often works a forests for local public purposes. 



serious hardship upon those who "To carry more fully into effect this 



have entered the region as the advance already established principle a further 



guard ofcivilization and are seeking, in step should be taken. It should not be 



the face of many difhculties, to establish necessary to wait until the period of 



homes. There are counties in which a hardest struggle is past before these 



sparse local population of pioneer settlers public resources begin to assist local 



find themselves surrounded by a wilder- development. Before the national for- 



ness largely consisting of national forest ests begin to yield large incomes, as 



land, which is almost idle so far as any well as after, they should be made to 



form of present use is concerned. In participate in the work of building up 



other words, a great, if not the greatest, the country and giving value to all its 



of the potential sources of wealth in resources. 



such counties, held in trust by the " The first need of the pubhc in tmde- 

 Govemment for the benefit of the public, velopcd regions is for more and better 

 not merely contributes nothing now roads. Without them the struggle of 

 to the upbuilding of the communities individuals to gain a foothold is much 

 which will give value to the forests, but more difficult, while isolation from 

 actually adds to the burden which these neighbors and the outside world means 

 communities must assume. Were the meager educational opportimity, a lack 

 forests private property they would of comforts, and conditions unfavorable 

 pay their fair proportion of the cost of to community life. A road system, 

 road development, public schools, and however, constitutes a capital invest- 

 other public activities, through taxation, ment which a handful of settlers must 

 The Government, unlike the private make a little at a time. When their 

 owner of timbcrland in sitch regions, is roads must be built largely throtigh 

 holding the timber, not in order to make national forest lands, which pay no 

 a profit later by its advance in value, taxes, their case is much more difficult, 

 but in order to make it promote the In such regions the Secretary of Agricul- 

 public welfare. That it should be made ture should be authorized to make a 

 to serve the local as well as the national study of the local conditions and to 

 public welfare has been definitely recog- gather all the data necessary to formu- 



* From the annual report of Hon. David F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture. 



