FOREST SERVICE. 213' 



fail to be given simultaneous treatment. In recognition of this 

 situation, Congress made available an emergency appropriation of 

 $150,000 for control work on lands owned or controlled by the Federal 

 Government, with provision that it should be spent only if satis- 

 factory cooperation were secured from the owners of other lands 

 in the infestation unit. 



The result has been gratifying cooperation between the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior, the State of Oregon, the owners of the private 

 land, the Bureau of Entomology, and this service. The technical 

 methods of combating the infestation were \vorked out by the Bureau 

 of Entomology, which inspected and supervised their application by 

 all of the administrative agencies which had charge of the actual 

 work of felling the trees and killing the insects. Climatic conditions 

 in the spring of 1922 were unfavorable and labor proved to be un- 

 expectedly scarce. The control work, howcYer, covered 69,710 

 acres, involving felling and peeling and burning the infested 

 bark from 7,079 trees, containing 6,672,490 board feet of timber. 

 About ISO men were employed. The total expenditure was ap- 

 proximately S42,000, of which less than $25,000 is chargeable against 

 the special appropriation. The control work was well started and 

 economically conducted, but must be continued for two or possibly 

 three 3'ears longer. Reappropriation of the unexpended balance of 

 the $150,000, which is now available only until December 31, 1922, 

 is urgently needed. 



Another insect infestation which has reached large proportions is 

 on the Kaibab National Forest and the Grand Canyon National 

 Park, in northern Arizona. Lack of funds prevented anything being 

 done with this infestation until the spring of 1922, when at a serious 

 sacrifice of other work about $8,000 was expended in an attempt 

 to stop the epidemic, using technical methods recommended by the 

 Bureau of Entomology. In this case work could be conducted later 

 than in southern Oregon and was continued into the fiscal year 

 1923 in cooperation with the National Park Service, which furnished 

 an additional $1,000 to enable treatment to be given to the portion 

 of the infested area in the national park. 



Insect infestations, like forest fires, spread without regard to land 

 ownership. When, as in the case of the southern Oregon infestation, 

 both public and private timber resources are endangered, it is obvious 

 that the Government should be prepared to*do its share, since the 

 infestation must be treated as a whole. Furthermore, like forest 

 fires, such epidemics should be treated in their initial stages in order 

 to prevent at the least cost serious losses of valuable timber. The 

 lack of funds for meeting these emergencies is comparable to a lack 

 of funds with which to put out fires while they are small. The 

 Bureau of Entomology has studied the life history of these tree- 

 killing insects and is prepared to furnish advice as to how to hold 

 them in check. It would obviously be desirable to have funds 

 available with which the Secretary, using the knowledge of these 

 experts, could act to protect the timber on any publicly owned 

 forest lands, in cooperation with private owners, States, or other 

 departments of the Federal Government if other than national forest 

 lands are involved. 



