54 



ice as a whole, and it will be responsible for the efficient development 

 of all statistical work conducted by the Service. 



The work conducted by the Branch of Research will not include tim- 

 ber, grazing, or fire reconnaissance, the development of private forestry 

 in the eastern States, the control of insect depredations on the National 

 Forests, nor grazing studies, which will remain for the present under 

 the Branch of Grazing. 



Excepting only the personnel engaged upon grazing studies, the 

 organization of the Branch of Research will include the entire per- 

 sonnel of the Forest Service which is engaged upon research work ex- 

 clusively ; and the great bulk of its activities will be conducted by such 

 members of the Service. Where advisable, however, certain lines of 

 work under the direction of this branch may be conducted by adminis- 

 trative officers, who, for this purpose and to this extent only, will be 

 under the direction of the assistant forester in charge. 



The Branch of Research will direct in each district all of the lines 

 of investigation indicated above which are conducted in the district con- 

 cerned, including forest products, market and lumbering studies, the 

 silvicultural experiment station, the collection of statistics on lumber 

 prices, the work in forest pathology, general economic investigations, 

 and statistical investigations. Ultimately it will be desirable in every 

 district to have all of the research work directed by this branch placed 

 under the direction of one member of the district office staff, who will 

 be in charge of an office of research. No attempt will be made to bring 

 this organization about within any specified time, but only as it may 

 appear practicable in accordance with available funds and personnel 

 and the most efficient means of conducting the various kinds of investi- 

 gation. For the present, the various kinds of research work in each 

 district will remain under the direction of the respective offices to which 

 they are now assigned. 



In view of the correlation of research work at Washington effected 

 by the establishment of the new branch, the continuance of the central 

 investigative committee is no longer deemed necessary, and that com- 

 mittee is therefore discontinued, effective June 1. The assistant for- 

 ester in charge of Research will assemble and correlate the investigative 

 projects proposed by each branch or other unit in the Service, including 

 the Branch of Grazing, and make up the annual investigative program 

 for submission to the Forester. All investigative projects proposed by 

 any unit in the Service will be submitted to him in accordance with 

 the instructions in Service Order 41. 



In order to secure adequate consideration of all of the administrative 

 needs in each district, as bearing upon the character of the investi- 

 gative work which should be done, and particularly to continue the 

 representation of the supervisors in each district in consideration of 

 plans for research, the district investigative committees will continue 

 to exercise the function assigned to them by Service Order 41, including 



