The Administration of National Forests 



373 



The other is the dual purpose for which 

 the forests were established and are 

 being managed. The purpose includes 

 service to the Nation and to the local 

 economy and welfare. 



The same dual purpose controls the 

 management of the national forest 

 range resource, which is utilized by 

 some 10 million head of livestock, 

 owned by more than 25,000 ranchers 

 and other nearby residents. So, too, 

 with the recreation and wildlife re- 

 sources, which attract millions of per- 

 sons to the forests each year. Water 

 that the forests produce likewise must 

 be so managed to serve interstate and 

 local needs and to reduce its high 

 potential for such disasters as floods 

 and siltation of reservoirs. Because of 

 its supreme importance, water man- 

 agement must be given predominating 

 consideration in the handling of each 

 of the other national forest resources. 



The situation gives the order. Ob- 

 viously, decentralization and delega- 

 tion of authority to the tree and grass 

 roots are called for. When Gifford 

 Pinchot, first Chief of the Forest Serv- 

 ice, formed a decentralized type of or- 

 ganization and administration in 1 908, 

 he said, "Each locality should be dealt 

 with on its own merits." Since then 

 that has been the controlling principle. 

 A small central office is maintained to 

 meet the needs for coordination and 

 leadership, for essential facilitating and 

 control services, and for the work with 

 the board of directors Congress. Of 

 the total employment during a normal 

 field season, less than 2 percent is in 

 the central office in Washington. 



Administration of the national for- 

 ests is one of three main responsibilities 

 of the Forest Service. The other two 

 and research and State and private for- 

 estry cooperation. In charge of each of 

 the three major lines of activity is an 

 assistant chief, who with other assist- 

 ant chiefs comprise the staff of the 

 Chief of the Forest Service in dealing 

 with matters of national importance. 



The assistant chief in charge of na- 

 tional forest administration, acting for 

 the Chief of the Forest Service, has full 



operating responsibility for planning, 

 coordinating, staffing, organizing, and 

 directing all national forest functions 

 and activities. He in turn delegates to 

 division chiefs in his office responsibil- 

 ity for particular functions. This func- 

 tional organization is made up of the 

 divisions of timber management, range 

 management, wildlife management, 

 recreation and land use, watershed 

 management, fire control, and such 

 service units as engineering, informa- 

 tion and education, finance, as well as 

 personnel. 



Territorially the United States is 

 divided into regions, each region into 

 national forests, and each national for- 

 est into ranger districts. 



The line of authority runs from the 

 Chief of the Forest Service to the as- 

 sistant chief in charge of national for- 

 ests, to the regional forester, to the 

 forest supervisor, to the district ranger. 



The functional organization in the 

 Chief's office, however, is extended to 

 the field. In Washington, for example, 

 a Division of Timber Management is 

 responsible for over-all direction of 

 timber management. In the region 

 there is likewise a timber management 

 division. At the national forest level 

 there is a functional-staff man for tim- 

 ber management, and in the ranger 

 district as many men are stationed as 

 are needed to do the work. 



Here then we have a secondary or- 

 ganizational line parallel to the pri- 

 mary lines of authority, and, like it, 

 running from top to bottom. There are 

 as many of these secondary lines as 

 there are functions. The purpose of the 

 first line, that is, the so-called line of 

 authority, is primarily that of coordi- 

 nating the work of the functional divi- 

 sions, although it has other important 

 duties, as will be seen later. The various 

 functional lines must be kept in balance 

 and held within their proper fields. 



The relationship between the line of 

 authority and the functional lines is 

 important. Briefly stated, the relation- 

 ship is this : General policies are issued 

 down the line of authority, and only 

 down that line. Within the framework 



