204 THE FOREST SERVICE AND THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



has become so involved and difficult that professionally trained fores- 

 ters are being used in place of the former local men who had had ex- 

 perience as woodsmen, cattlemen, or sheep men, and others who had 

 acquired a knowledge of local conditions and problems. 



5. NATIONAL FORESTS AS MODELS OF FORESTRY PRACTICE 



The outstanding examples of successful forestry practice on ex- 

 tended areas in this country are to be found in our National Forests. 

 They have been factors in the betterment of social and economic 

 conditions, particularly in the local communities and immediately 

 surrounding regions. The original objectives outlining the policy of 

 Forest Service as stated by the Secretary of Agriculture on February 

 1, 1905, has been very carefully carried out to the effect that: "In 

 the administration ... it must be clearly borne in mind that all land 

 is to be devoted to its most productive use for the permanent good of 

 the whole people. . . . All the resources are for use, and this use must 

 be brought about in a thoroughly broad and business like manner 

 under such restrictions only as shall insure the permanence of these 

 resources . . . the water, wood, and forage of the reservations are to 

 be conserved and wisely used for the benefit of the home builders first 

 of all. The continued prosperity of the agricultural, lumbering, min- 

 ing, and livestock interests is directly dependent upon a permanent 

 and accessible supply of water, wood, and forage. . . ." 



