10 FORESTRY ALMANAC 



vast softwood stands of the Olympics and Cascades in northern 

 Washington, the National Forests lie mainly on the mountain slopes. 

 Even along the Alaskan shore, where the Tongass and Chugach 

 Forests form a tattered ribbon six hundred miles long from the south- 

 ern tip of the territory to within sight of Mount McKinley, the valuable 

 Sitka spruce and hemlock growth clothes the lower flanks of the 

 coastal mountains." 



In these words the United States Forest Service describes the 149 

 National Forests, totalling more than 156,000,000 acres, which it 

 administers for the public. These areas are maintained in the best 

 interests of the general welfare. They enclose a great material wealth 

 in wood, water and land for forage. They contribute largely to indus- 

 trial enterprise through their yearly yield of practically one billion 

 board feet of timber. They protect the watersheds of one-third of the 

 waterpower resources of the country and the water supply of more 

 than a thousand communities. The National Forests provide pastur- 

 age of millions of live stock. They are the playgrounds of recreation 

 seekers in search of camp and trail. 



Although the country was aroused to the need of a forestry move- 

 ment along national lines longer ago, three decades represent the 

 period in which these National Forest assets have been acquired. 

 Before that the public domain was being swept by fire or taken up by 

 private enterprise and cut over at a devastating rate. Timber booms 

 came and moved on, leaving a wake of destruction. Had this gone 

 on not only the timber resources but the agricultural land and water- 

 power resources would have been ruined or seriously hurt. 



In 1891 Congress empowered the President to set aside forest 

 reserves from the public domain, to protect both the timber resources 

 and the flow of streams. That year President Harrison created the 

 " Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve," starting the work of con- 

 servation. The act of Congress, however, did not provide for 

 administration of this territory, and the present system really dates 

 from June 4, 1897, when Congress passed a law creating a plan of 

 organization and management and placing it in the hands of the 

 Department of the Interior. 



It soon became apparent that the administration of these reserves 

 required scientific and technical supervisions. At first the Department 

 of Agriculture was requested to lend the aid of experts and finally 



