COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 323 



and the organization of a forestry school by the Government has 

 not been necessary. Regarding the importance of the work of 

 the committee of the Academy in the promotion of the forestry 

 interests of the United States, Mr. GifTord Pinchot, who was a 

 member of the committee, and has also been the most conspicuous 

 advocate of scientific forestry in America, wrote in 1905: 



" The work of the committee of the National Academy of Sciences, while it 

 failed of much that it might have accomplished, nevertheless was the spring from 

 which the present activity in forest matters was derived. The proclamation of 

 the reserves which it recommended drew the attention of the country as nothing 

 else had ever done to the question of forestry. Vigorous discussion of forest 

 matters by the public press led to a widespread interest, and that in turn to a keen 

 appreciation of the value of forests in the economy of each State, and to a willing- 

 ness to take measures to protect them. It may fairly be assumed that, as one 

 of the results of this awakened interest, the policy of making Government forest 

 reserves is now established beyond the reach of further question." ^^' 



The following data were culled from the report of Secretary 

 Wilson for 1912: 



In the midsummer of igi2 the Forest Service employed a total of 4097 persons 

 and had an appropriation of over $5,000,000 for the current year. This bureau 

 employed only thirteen persons sixteen years ago. Its administrative and pro- 

 tective duties alone are discharged in thirty-four States and in Alaska. Besides 

 having charge of the national forests, this bureau offers to provide owners of 

 woodlands an opportunity to obtain practical advice and assistance looking toward 

 the introduction of forest management on their holdings. 



Grazing of the forest lands, which was formerly done destructively, is now 

 permitted under control of this Department. Grazing permits are issued, and in 

 191 2 over 26,000 permits were issued for the grazing of 1,400,000 cattle, 95,000 

 horses, and nearly 7,500,000 sheep. 



In the care of the national forests much timber is sold, and in 191 2 the 

 timber sales numbered nearly 5800 and embraced 800,000,000 board feet, from 

 which the receipts were over $1,000,000. The area of the national forests, June 

 30, 1912, was over 187,000,000 acres. 



COMMITTEE ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL 

 RESERVE IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 1902 



In 1902 the Academy received a letter from the chairman of 

 the Senate Committee on Forest Reservations and the Protection 

 of Game relative to the establishment of a reservation in the 



'■'Yearbook of the Dep. Agric, 1899, p. 297. 



