32 



Treasury. Under Federal law, 25 per- 

 cent of these receipts is turned over to 

 the States in which the national for- 

 ests are located. The State in turn ap- 

 portions this fund to the counties, each 

 county receiving as its share a propor- 

 tion of the receipts from the national 

 forest or forests located within the 

 county, based on the acreage of the 

 national forest land within the county. 

 This fund is used by the county for 

 school and road purposes. The Federal 

 law also requires that an additional 10 

 percent of all receipts from the national 

 forests be expended by the Forest Serv- 

 ice for trails and roads located entirely 

 within the forests in the States from 

 which the receipts are obtained. 



What are the duties of a forest 

 ranger? 



Every national forest is divided into 

 ranger districts with a forest ranger in 

 charge of each. Sometimes he has an 

 assistant ranger. A ranger district, the 

 smallest administrative unit of the na- 

 tional forests, varies in size from 100,- 

 000 to 400,000 acres. The ranger's 

 work involves supervision of timber 

 sales, grazing, recreational and other 

 uses of the forest. He helps build roads, 

 trails, bridges, telephone lines, and 

 other permanent improvements. He 

 trains and inspects forest guards and 

 temporary employees. He must know 

 his district well enough to be able to 

 conduct Forest Service business in any 

 part of it, and he must know how to 

 fight fire. He has routine reports to 

 make, but he is primarily a field man 

 rather than an office worker. His over- 

 all responsibility is to manage the for- 

 est as a renewable resource. 



What is the difference between a na- 

 tional forest and a national park? 



They are both Federal areas, and 

 each has an important place in the 

 conservation picture of the United 

 States. However, the principle of use 

 of resources is the vital distinction be- 

 tween them. Essentially, national parks 

 ,are maintained for the preservation of 

 outstanding features; national forests 



Yearboo^ of Agriculture 1949 



are for the production of the resources. 



National forests are administered for 

 the protection, development, and use 

 of timber, water, range, and other re- 

 sources in the public interest. A basic 

 purpose is the protection of watersheds, 

 to safeguard water supplies and pre- 

 vent floods. Timber resources are man- 

 aged to contribute toward a permanent 

 supply of lumber and other forest prod- 

 ucts, and to serve as demonstration 

 areas of forest management for the 

 benefit of private timber owners and 

 operators. National forest ranges are 

 managed to provide a sustained supply 

 of forage for the grazing of livestock. 

 The forests are managed also to pre- 

 serve their beauty and attractiveness 

 for the recreational enjoyment of the 

 people ; to maintain a favorable habitat 

 for wildlife ; and in other ways to make 

 their resources contribute to the eco- 

 nomic stability and the welfare of the 

 Nation. 



National parks are dedicated to the 

 primary purpose of preserving, for pub- 

 lic enjoyment, superlative examples of 

 the scenic and the majestic in nature, 

 though they serve other important pur- 

 poses such as wildlife conservation and 

 the regulation of stream flow through 

 watershed protection. As a rule, only 

 lands containing outstanding scenic, 

 geologic, or other natural wonders are 

 included. The law requires that they 

 be administered to provide for public 

 enjoyment "in such manner and by 

 such means as will leave them unim- 

 paired for the enjoyment of future gen- 

 erations." National parks are thus, in a 

 sense, great outdoor museums. The na- 

 tional parks are administered by the 

 Park Service, a bureau of the United 

 States Department of the Interior. 



Who owns the land in the United 

 States that produces or can produce 

 timber of commercial quality and 

 quantity? On how much of it are cut- 

 ting practices good? Fair? Poor? How 

 much timber shall we need in 1955? 

 and 50 years hence? 



The information is given in the 

 tables on pages 33 and 34. .iw-j 



