Forestry in America. 59 



X — Management. 



Some Government Timber Sales in the Southwest from the 



Practical and Technical Standpoint. By Theodore S. Woolsey, 



Jr. Vol. II, No. I. 



This paper gives an account of mistakes made in the earlier adminis- 

 tration of timber sales. These mistakes, however, laid the foimdation 

 for the better administration of to-day. 



Managing a National forest from the Business Standpoint. 



By Theodore S. Woolsey, Jr. Vol. Ill, No. i. 



This paper throws an interesting light on the administration of the 

 National Forests in 190S, and contains valuable suggestions. For example : 

 His point about salaries and corresponding efficiency is well taken ; his 

 suggestions about keeping track of a Forest Officer's work, and about cost 

 keeping have since been put into effect; while his recommendation of a 

 more conservative use of the ''raw product" (timber) has, owing to the 

 necessity for making sales in order to put the Service on a paying basis, 

 not yet been followed. However, with proper silvicultural methods of 

 timber marking, there is no danger of depleting the capital. 



The New Reconnaissance — Working Pla<ns that Work. By 



Arthur Bernard Recknagel. Vol. IV, No. i. 



This article is full of details concerning the early attempts of the 

 Forest Service to regulate the cut on the National Forests. These at- 

 tempts produced valuable information, if small results in a timber sale 

 policy. The author also gives the details of tJie method of reconnaissance 

 used for securing working plan data in District 3. This method has 

 since been applied on nearly all the Forests of the District, furnishing esti- 

 mates sufficiently reliable for all practical purposes, and excellent topo- 

 graphic maps. The emphasis placed on mapping and estimating was, 

 however, carried to such an extent that the silvicultural method of cutting 

 was, until very recently, in danger of being overlooked. Although the 

 author in his enthusiasm forgets that "working plans that work" cannot 

 be built in a day, he, nevertheless, stirred up interest in this important line 

 of forest activity. 



Preliminary Forest Management in the Southwest. By Theo- 

 dore S. Woolsey, Jr. Vol. IV, No. i. 



Under the above title the author discusses the method of fixing stump- 

 age rates, the timber sale policy, and the method of fixing the annual 

 limitation to the cut. His statement that all the timber in the Southwest 

 will be needed locally is, I believe, over conservative. The population of 

 Arizona and New Mexico is small, and will probably not increase greatly 

 since most of the available agricultural land is already occupied. Although 

 half of the article is devoted to the discussion of stumpage rates, the 

 only basis which the reader can discover for the all-important minimum 

 rate is competition; and yet it is only in exceptional cases that more than 

 one bid is received. The timber sale policy of reserving certain areas for 

 free use or for small sales is wise, and constitutes the soundest part of 

 this article. The method of limiting the annual cut is correct enough, but 

 tends to give too sanguine an impression of conditions in the region. 

 The author fails to point out that this limitation of the cut, however neces- 



