Preparing Working Plans. 155 



10 years as mere paper work at the present stage of the develop- 

 ment of the National Forests. It is thought, therefore, that to 

 be of practical value they should be confined to a ten y«ar period 

 or even less. 



It must be conceded that to be of the greatest value, plans must 

 represent the best thought of the District. Therefore, to secure 

 uniformity and to obviate the need of rew^riting much of the ma- 

 terial submitted to the District Forester, a special corps of forest 

 plans men must be organized. These men must have knowledge 

 of timber and logging requirements, and at the same time be able 

 to present the data collected in a clear concise and systematic way. 

 In short, they must be practical foresters of a high type. It is 

 not proposed that these men make the plans independent of the 

 Supervisor. On the contrary, the plan should be drafted in closest 

 co-operation with him. 



The Supervisor must be consulted on all points of policy, for 

 there should be joint responsibility. Field assistance, necessary 

 to complete the plan, should be rendered by him. Annual re- 

 vision of the plan is provided for in the Supervisor's annual plan. 

 At the end of the period which the plan covers a new one should 

 be made by a specialist. 



The preliminary plan should cover approximately the following 

 points: Introduction (very brief); Markets; Past Lumbering 

 (very brief) ; Forest types (very brief). 



In the introduction the objects of the management should be 

 discussed. This is very important. A discussion, for each im- 

 portant type, of the kind of product desired, with special refer- 

 ence to present methods of cutting, should be given here. Markets 

 must also be taken into consideration. Clear-cut conclusions as 

 to how to attain the ends desired must be drawn. 



The silvicultural methods (by type and logging unit) are to be 

 discussed, covering the objects and methods of cutting and pro- 

 tection after lumbering. The plan need not go into details in 

 reference to logging units on which no cutting is probable in the 

 10 year period of the plan. 



The timber sale policy is one of the main points in the plan. 

 Here should be discussed the proposed timber sale business, such 

 as restriction, development, encouragement, location and regula- 

 tion of sales. It really shows what business is to be transacted 

 and the business policy of the forest. 



