628 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In 1912 approximately $5,000 was spent on insect control work on 

 the Tongue River Reservation in Montana, but funds were not avail- 

 able for this purpose in subsequent years until 1931 when about 

 $1,300 was expended. 



Plagues of insect infestations and disease epidemics affecting 

 standing timber are usually wide-spread and constitute a national 

 menace. Funds for control work should be obtained and expended 

 in suppression activities in such a way as will insure a high degree of 

 correlated action between Federal, State, and private interests whose 

 timber holdings are threatened. 



DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONNEL 



When the forestry branch of the Indian Service was organized in 

 1910, a personnel program was contemplated (6, p. 475) providing 

 for the employment of a forester, assistant forester, and superin- 

 tendent of logging, whose duties were to be those of general inspection 

 and supervision; 3 men to have similar duties within 3 assigned 

 portions of the United States which were described as comprising 

 the Southwestern, the Northwestern, and the Central States; about 

 12 or 15 forest assistants and lumbermen in charge of the forestry 

 work on the more important timbered reservations under the juris- 

 diction of the superintendents of the reservations, and a force of 

 about 112 forest guards and rangers under the jurisdiction of the 

 superintendents on about 40 reservations having large forest interests. 



In carrying out this program, which has been modified to some 

 extent as circumstances demanded, considerable difficulty has been 

 encountered in retaining the services of competent men because of 

 inadequate salaries (minimized somewhat since the reclassification) 

 and living conditions and the somewhat unusual working conditions. 

 A forester in the Indian Bureau, to render efficient and satisfactory 

 service must not only have technically trained and fully alert mental 

 equipment, but must be able to recognize fully the peculiar problems 

 confronting the Indian Service with respect to the Indian wards of 

 the Government; must win the confidence and respect of these 

 people; and be guided to a very large extent in his work by a con- 

 sideration of the best interests of the Indians. Although the turnover 

 in the total number of forestry employees has been relatively large, 

 the generally satisfactory progress which has been made in forestry 

 work on Indian reservations has been due in some measure at least 

 to the fact that the turnover in employees in supervisory forestry 

 work has not been as large as in the more subordinate positions. 

 The Director of Forestry has been able to build up a force of tech- 

 nically trained men who have acquired an intimate knowledge of 

 Indian affairs and who understand the importance of Indian forest 

 property in a general program which has as its objectives the social, 

 industrial, and economic improvement of the Indian race. 



If forestry practice on Indian reservations is to be improved one of 

 the outstanding needs for all forest activities is an increased personnel, 

 particularly for forest-fire prevention and suppression, general timber 

 sale administration, grazing administration, and forest improvement 

 work. 



