A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 655 



best long-time safeguards which could be devised for preventing 

 national forest administration from getting into ruts. On the 

 other hand, the presence of an administrative group having no direct 

 responsibility for research but needing its results and certain to be 

 critical if it does not get them, is likewise a wholesome influence on 

 the investigative staff. It compels research men to keep in mind 

 that their function is service and that research is not an end in itself. 



DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATION AND FACILITIES 



One of the problems resulting from consolidation and segregation, 

 and one which has required a large amount of attention, has been the 

 development of a sound organization in the broad sense and of effec- 

 tive administration as a means for doing the work for which the 

 Branch of Research was established. This has involved such objec- 

 tives as the most effective relationships between research and the 

 administrative organization of the Forest Service, the most effective 

 field units, the most satisfactory working facilities, adequate financing, 

 a competent research staff, and effective supervision. 



Organization and supervision are only necessary means to an end in 

 research, and all objectives formulated for them must have this in 

 mind. In general the more that organization and supervision can be 

 kept in the background the better, and early settlement and settle- 

 ment along sound lines of the questions involved is the best way to 

 accomplish this. Sound and clear-cut objectives in organization and 

 supervision help to insure a minimum of lost motion and the maximum 

 progress and accomplishment. 



THE MOST EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN RESEARCH 

 AND ADMINISTRATION 



So that under the segregation plan administration and research 

 would foster and reinforce each other in fact as well as in theory, it 

 has been necessary to develop ways and means for maintaining the 

 most effective relationship between the organizations responsible for 

 the two activities. 



One necessary means to this objective is that administration have 

 a voice in the determination of what research should be done. Admin- 

 istrative officers have, therefore, been given a substantial share in 

 formulating the programs on which the research is concentrated and 

 also an opportunity to read and criticize reports covering investi- 

 gative results. In other words, the segregation of research has been 

 complete for the determination of research technique and the current 

 administration of the research itself, but the work is on programs 

 jointly recommended by administrative officers and the investigative 

 staff. 



A second means to this objective is provision for cooperation in 

 getting investigative results into practice on the national forests. 

 The administrative staff is responsible for application but can and 

 should be aided by the investigative staff. Among the many forms 

 which such aid takes are representation on boards which decide upon 

 the details of the silviculture to be used in the cutting of national 

 forest timber, on boards which review the handling of serious forest 

 fires, attendance at conferences called to work out policies and 

 technical management, assistance in special training camps for the 

 administrative staff, etc. 



