214 Forestry Quarterly 



will graduate to the staff. Applying this theory to District 3, Mr. 

 Ringland argues that "using funds now available . . . this 

 will mean ... a personnel of ten supervisors, ten deputy 

 supervisors, twenty executive staff assistants and twenty clerks, a 

 staff of sixty, supervising sixty rangers and one hundred ninety 

 forest guards, or a full staff of two hundred fifty. The forest 

 guards will work at round-ups, count stock, do improvement work, 

 burn brush, police, haul supplies, and cultivate and harvest forage 

 crops." 



They will be recruited for eight months a year at $60 a month 

 from the local population. In addition, there will be fire patrol- 

 men serving not over four months. 



In conclusion, Ringland argues: 



"That here is an organization, systematically distributed, . . . 

 made up of individuals selected for the work at hand. It is a 

 simple organization susceptible of expansion or contraction — it is 

 flexible. Can we not then meet our needs more independently? 

 Can we not then make it possible to recognize the work of the in- 

 dividual and attempt to pay him accordingly ?" 



These recommendations appear theoretically sound, except 

 for one weakness — a most important one — ,his failure to comment 

 more adequately^ on the future of the district office. To my mind, 

 a competent supervisor's staff means the end of the district staff in 

 its present form. There are, to be sure, almost insurmountable 

 objections to the Supervisor staff organization, especially forceful 

 unless the district office is abolished. Then, too, how will it affect 

 public sentiment? Having a local supervisor in a town, often 

 makes that town exceedingly loyal to the Forest Service, on ac- 

 count of the personal intercourse between the supervisor and the 

 more prominent citizens. With the staff organization, there will 

 probably be less real intimacy on the part of the supervisor, even 

 if he were enabled to make systematic public sentiment tours, giv- 

 ing lectures at convenient points — something that is sadly lacking 

 at present. There will be a greatly increased travel expense, since 

 it might readily happen that, in rotation, you would find on one 

 forest district the grazing specialist, the improvement specialist, 

 the timber sale specialist, and the land specialist — each of them 

 perhaps accompanied by the respective chiefs from the district and 



' Since this was written, it is understood that Mr. Ringland planned a 

 study of the District organization as a corollary to his other organiza- 

 tion studies. 



