1902.] YALE FOREST SCHOOL AND ITS PURPOSES. 1 8/ 



applied. The problems which must be solved by the Ameri- 

 can forester are diverse and often difficult, and they cannot 

 be solved until there are trained men to do the work. Arti- 

 cles in magazines and newspapers urge lumbermen and other 

 forest owners to adopt the methods of forestry and to employ 

 expert foresters, but lumbermen will certainly not need the 

 services of foresters until they are sure that they can secure 

 well-trained and experienced men. 



At Yale we are endeavoring to train men to fall these 

 places. The Yale Forest School is based not merely upon 

 what we believe theoretically a forester should know, but upon 

 our knowledge of the kind of work which foresters must do in 

 this country. Just what this work is and the kind of training 

 we believe that an expert forester should have will be of in- 

 terest to every owner of trees or woods, and forms the theme 

 of my talk tonight. 



The forests of the United States are owned in part by the 

 federal government, in part by the states, in part by lumber- 

 men and lumber companies, cooperage companies, wood acid 

 companies, turpentine companies, etc. ; also in part by large 

 private concerns, such as railroads, hunting and fishing clubs, 

 and large private estates ; and there are some 200,000,000 

 acres owned by small proprietors, chiefly farmers. 



The forest problems which confront the federal govern- 

 ment and the states are somewhat similar. They hold their 

 forests for a different reason than that of most private owners. 

 They do not seek primarily a money return, but such a man- 

 agement of their forests as will secure the greatest good to 

 the people in the long run. Of the great public domain in the 

 far West, the government has already set aside nearly 50,- 

 000,000 acres of forest land for national parks and forest re- 

 serves, and it is certain that very large additions will be made 

 to this area in the near future. The lands selected for national 

 parks and forest reserves are in the high mountains at the 

 headwaters of the rivers, and their primary use is to con- 

 serve the waters in these streams. A large part of the timber 

 in these parks and reserves is not of much commercial value, 

 and they will therefore never play a very important part in 

 the production of timber to meet the wants of the people. 

 Local markets will be supplied, but the general lumber cen- 

 ters will probably receive comparatively little timber from 

 these public forests. 



