FOREST SERVICE. 347 



responsibilities of the rangers. It is obvious that during the early- 

 period of building up the technical organization it was necessary to 

 maintain a considerable force of officers charged with supervising 

 and inspecting the work on the Forests. The gradual reduction of 

 the supervisory force at Wasliington and in the districts has been 

 carried on now for about three years, and amounts to fully 33 per 

 cent. In the Washington office the number of men holding the title 

 assistant forester has been reduced to four. In the districts the office 

 of associate district forester has been dispensed "\\dth, and there has 

 been curtailment in each district office of at least two assistant dis- 

 trict foresters. During the past year alone the supervisory force in 

 the districts was reduced by 19 men. The men occupying these 

 positions were for the most part promoted to fill vacancies or for one 

 reason or another have resigned from the Service. 



In districts 5 and 6 the district foresters, Mr. F. E. Olmsted and 

 Mr. C. S. Chapman, resigned their positions, the first to enter private 

 business as a consulting forester, the second to accept a position with the 

 Oregon Fire Protective Association. In these men the Forest Service 

 lost two of its most experienced and capable officers; Mr. Olmsted 

 was appointed in 1900 and Mr. Chapman in 1901. Their positions 

 were filled by the promotion of District Associate Foresters Coert 

 Du Bois and George H. Cecil. The district forester in district 1, 

 Mr. W. B. Greeley, was transferred to Wasliington to assume charge 

 of the Branch of Silviculture, vacated by Mr. W. T. Cox, who, to 

 my keen regret, resigned from the Forest Service to become the State 

 forester of ]\Iinnesota. In district 2 the associate district forester, 

 Mr. Paul G. Redington, was transferred at his own request to the 

 position of supervisor of the Sierra Forest. The associate district 

 foresters in districts 3 and 4, Mr. Frankfin W. Reed and Mr, Earle H. 

 Clapp, were transferred to the Washington office as inspectors, the 

 fu'st in the Branch of Operation and the second in the Branch of 

 Silviculture. 



While a certain amount of drafting and map work is conducted in 

 the district offices, and a small amount necessarily on the Forests, the 

 greater part is concentrated at Wasliington for reasons of economy. 

 A great deal of scientific work centered at Washington is closely 

 related to Forest administration and is for the purpose of developing 

 better methods of silviculture and range management. It is, how- 

 ever, properly carried as a separate charge. The total force at 

 Washington has been increased in spite of the reduction in the 

 administrative officers. This is due to the additional work required 

 under the Weeks law, to the greater amount of work in accounts 

 resulting from the new form or the appropriation bill, to the intro- 

 duction of a more detailed system of cost accounting, and to expan- 

 sion in certain phases of research work, notably range investigations, 

 dendrology, and forest products. 



In the districts the administrative force has now been cut to the 

 district forester and four assistant district foresters. In addition, 

 there are speciahsts who assist in certain fines of work, as, for instance, 

 the district engineer, expert lumbermen, assistants in planting, 

 mineral examiners, etc. 



The poficy of reducing the overhead charges to a minimum and 

 expending the available money on operating expenses has been 

 carefully appHed also on the Forests themselves. In general, the 



