PLANNING 267 



same time, the information upon which these policies were based 

 comes up from the forests through the regions to Washington. 



On the whole the management is bureaucratic; that is, it is 

 managed by appointed rather than elected officers. A certain 

 amount of democratic control is given to the various advisory 

 boards of private users of forest resources, but the final power 

 rests in the Secretary of Agriculture and his forest assistant, 

 the Chief of the Forest Service. This is the usual type of man' 

 agement of a resource wholly owned by the federal govern' 

 ment. 



So far as the forests are concerned, this has turned out to be 

 a very efficient type of management. There are several reasons 

 for this. One of them is that the idea of proper forest manage' 

 ment has won tremendous public support. The saving of our 

 forests has been one of the best publicised movements in 

 American history. Arbor Day, for instance, has become a 

 holiday in most states. 



Another reason for the success of the National Forest ad' 

 ministration is the maintenance of high civil service standards 

 for the personnel. In any attempt at regional planning, the 

 quality of the people who are to carry out the provisions of the 

 plan is of primary importance. 



A third reason for Forest Service success in planning is the 

 fact that it has recognised the importance of local problems in 

 drafting a national plan. The Forest Service has not permitted 

 itself to become a central bureaucracy without any knowledge 

 or feeling for local forest problems. The local forest super' 

 visors and rangers have very considerable power to make de' 

 cisions on the ground, quickly, without red tape, and with 

 a close knowledge of local need and opinions. This might be 

 called planning flexibility; that is, it is an example of how a plan 

 must be able to be bent to fit local conditions. No plan so rigid 

 that it ignores these local conditions can succeed. 



Very well, you may say, if the Forest Service is a successful 



