232 Forestry Quarterly 



there anything about this change that is impracticable ? Unques- 

 tionably, it would mean the saving of from $100,000 to $300,000 

 without undue diminution of efficiency. 



To my mind, if there were arrangements made to take care 

 of the routine in Washington, a simplified form of supervisor staff 

 organization would unquestionably be best in, (1) New Hamp- 

 shire, (2) Arkansas, (3) the Southern Appalachians, (4) parts 

 of New Mexico and Arizona, and (5) Southern California. 

 Men more familiar with other regions could speak more authori- 

 tatively of how the problem would be worked out elsewhere. 



The problem of Forest Service organization may be finally 

 solved in a number of ways. The organization may be continued 

 virtually as at present, with such improvements as may be possi- 

 ble from time to time as the result of normal development. To 

 the federal officials this is naturally the most obvious and prac- 

 ticable solution. If, however, the present organization is not 

 considered satisfactory, it might be best to increase the importance 

 of the districts by giving the district foresters more authority 

 and, in this way, gradually reduce the Washington office to an 

 inspection bureau which shall stand between the districts and 

 Congress and the Secretary of Agriculture. 



In the words of a consulting forester : 



"Speaking broadly, I feel that the Washington office should 

 be cut down to almost nothing. Disregarding altogether those 

 forces which Congress may impose upon the Washington office, 

 the stafif there should be simply the Forester and, say, a dozen 

 inspectors. These inspectors should be the pick of the whole 

 Service, should spend most of their time in the field, and should 

 act as the Forester's personal representatives. The Forester 

 should have a much more intimate knowledge of the field than 

 he now has, or ever can get by himself alone. The Washington 

 office, in other words, should be essentially an inspection office 

 rather than administrative in character." 



Still another plan would be to continue the district organiza- 

 tion but to follow the French and British Indian system of hav- 

 ing very small districts. This would mean the establishment of 

 perhaps 30 districts in the West instead of 7 as at present. The 

 possibilities are cited to show the complexity of the problem. 



In deciding on any change, it seems to me that the fundamental 

 aim should be to spend as much of the appropriation as possible 



