THE TECHNICAL FORESTER 159 



practice of forest utilization which has grown up throughout the 

 region to which he is assigned, or, worse still, he finds that there is 

 no opportunity for the practice of forestry, because the entire demand 

 for timber is confined to a few picayunish sales at cost, or the sawmill 

 operations total an annual utilization of perhaps two thousand trees. 



The situation necessitates a complete mental readjustment on the 

 part of the man, a subordination of many of his ethical and social 

 views, a putting aside of a great deal of the theory mastered by long- 

 years of careful study, a complete readjustment, in other words, both 

 mental and physical. It is necessary for the man to assimilate different 

 standards, ideals, and modes of thought before he can put himself in 

 a proper relationship toward the men with whom he is thrown in con- 

 tact. It is necessary for him to absorb a great deal of information 

 with regard to human selfishness, deception, and unreliability before 

 he can divest himself of the gullibility which makes him a mark for 

 the unscrupulous individuals whose affairs he sometimes has to handle. 

 He must acquire an entirely new perspective, to some extent, and 

 entirely new ideals of public service ; he must learn to compromise and 

 be content with a partial success as against a possible total defeat. 



When a man has done this he has passed simply the preliminary 

 stage of his more mature development. His technical training has 

 touched but lightly upon the problems of grazing management, but in 

 his official work that problem stands out as of paramount importance. 

 He therefore must master all of its details, which include, first, a 

 knowledge of the physical limitations governing the handling of stock 

 upon open ranges and the methods of management which, by reason 

 of physical limitations, have necessarily been evolved; second, the big 

 features of range management, which have been worked out by the 

 members of his own organization, such as the deferred and rotation 

 system of grazing, the open herding and bedding out methods, and. 

 third, the rather detailed procedure for apportioning grazing privileges 

 between contending applicants. These three aspects of the common 

 problem constitute in themselves a wide field for specialized work, and 

 yet they are only one of several important phases of National Forest 

 administration under present-day conditions. 



A man's technical course will probably touch but lightly upon the 

 general system of land laws which governs the distribution of the 

 public lands in the Western States. The laws, numerous as they are, 

 really constitute only a basis for a multitude of decisions having all 

 the force and effect of laws, a knowledge of which is more or less 



