870 ANNUAL REPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



LEGAL WORK FOR THE FOREST SERVICE. 

 GENERAL OUTLINE. 



The scope of the duties of this Office was materially broadened and 

 its work greatly increased during the fiscal year by your General 

 Order No. 138 of January 15, 1910, directing that thereafter the legal 

 work of the Forest Service be j)erformed under the immediate super- 

 vision and direction of the Solicitor for the Department. Theretolore 

 the bulk .of this work had been done by a branch in the Service desig- 

 nated as "Law," composed of a law officer and assistants in Wash- 

 ington, together with assistants distributed in the six districts, with 

 headquarters at ]\lissoula, ]\Iont., Denver, Colo., Albuquerque, N. 

 Mex., Ogden, Utah, San Francisco, Cal., and Portland, Oreg. This 

 branch of the Service handled several divisions of administrative work 

 not connected with law, and it was realized, soon after the assumption 

 of the duties enjoined by your order, that a separation of the work 

 formerly done by that branch was necessary to bring the work of this 

 Office properly within its functions. With this in view, as well as 

 the necessity for reorganizing the work to bring it under the super- 

 vision of the Solicitor, as directed by your order, the administrative 

 work theretofore done by the law officer of the Service was eliminated, 

 and a reduction to three made in the number of assistants in Wash- 

 ington to handle the legal work. The reorganization of the Washing- 

 ton office was effected on February 2, and during that month a per- 

 sonal visit was made by me to each of the six districts for the puipose 

 of reorganizing the branch offices in the field, as well as to select 

 suitable assistants to carry on the work of the Office there. By the 

 end of February the reorganization was completely effected. Two 

 assistants were selected in each of the districts except the fifth, where 

 it was thought the needs of the Service required but one. 



Pendmg the complete reorganization of the branch of the Office 

 employed on law work for the Forest Service, the designation of law 

 officer of the Service, in Washington, and of district law officer, in the 

 branch field offices, was retained, the law officer of the Service having 

 offices in the building occupied by the Forest Service. When the 

 reorganization of the entire force was effected, however, the position 

 of law officer of the Forest Service was abolished; the law clerks of 

 this Office in Washington, as well as in the field, who were engaged in 

 law work for the Forest Service, were designated as assistants to the 

 Solicitor, the tlosignation of all law clerks in the employ of this Office. 

 As stated, the entire force of the Office in Washington, including the 

 law clerks employed on work for the Forest Service, is now assembled 

 under one roof. 



The duties of the representatives of this Office in the field in rela- 

 tion to the officers of the Forest Service are outlined in your order of 

 March 31, 1910, in which you direct, in effect, that the district for- 

 esters will bo the immediate representatives of and receive instruc- 

 tions from the Forester, and similarly that the assistants to the 

 Solicitor in charge of the branches of this Office in the field will be 

 the immediate representatives of and receive their instructions from 

 the Solicitor; offices, equipment, clerical assistance, and traveling 

 expenses are to be furnished by the Forester to the assistants to the 



