'^44 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



supplies. This chaotic situation was somewhat difficult to remedy, be- 

 cause the arm}' wished to retain control and was jealous of any apparent 

 encroachment by other agencies in matters which it considered under 

 its jurisdiction. Gradually, however, the Director of Waters and For- 

 ests succeeded in attaching a considerable number of technical foresters 

 to the various services supplying wood for the army. 



The next problem was to bring about the unification which was evi- 

 dently necessary if there was to be a rational utilization of the forests. 

 The first step in this direction was the organization, on May 4, 1917, of 

 a General Committee on Forests, which was charged with general 

 supervision over all matters relating to the utilization of the forests. 

 On July 3. 1917, this was transformed into the General Committee on 

 Wood (Comite general des Bois). which was charged with a similar 

 supervision over all matters relating to the utilization of wood as well 

 as of forests. In addition to the General Committee on Wood, the 

 actual conduct of the necessary operations was centralized in a General 

 Inspection of Woods (I'lnspection Generale des Bois), which was 

 placed under the Minister of jMunitions, a former director of engineers. 



While foresters were predominant in the new organization thus 

 created, they did not have a free rein and were not always consulted 

 on important matters. Private forests suffered chiefly through mis- 

 takes made in this way, since the national and communal forests were 

 protected by the Administration of Waters and Forests. Operations 

 by the British and American forces are said to have been particularly 

 unfortunate in this respect, because of their natural lack of detailed 

 knowledge regarding cultural and economic conditions. Vigorous com- 

 plaints as to the exploitation of the private forests in the Landes re- 

 sulted in the creation of a commission at Bordeaux to pass on all pro- 

 posed cuttings in this region. An inspector general in the Administra- 

 tion of Waters and Forests also conducted an investigation of opera- 

 tions there which resulted in a recommendation that supervision of all 

 the work connected with the securing of wood supplies be placed under 

 the Director of Waters and Forests. This request the Minister of 

 Munitions declined to accede to. Finally, however, a compromise was 

 reached, on July 4, 1918, by which foresters were given a complete 

 preponderance in both the administrative and technical services. In 

 addition, the Minister of Agriculture appointed a representative to keep 

 in touch with the work relating to the supplying of wood for the na- 

 tional defense and for the allied armies and to perhaps take whatever 

 new measures might be necessary to safeguard the future of the French 

 forests. This in turn was followed by a decision to make a complete 



