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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



a forest fire proclamation, calling upon them to co-op- 

 erate fully in the prevention and suppression of forest 

 fires, the arch enemy of timber. The proclamation cites 

 the tremendous loss, direct and indirect, to which the 

 State is subject through this factor alone, a loss which 

 can be readily avoided by care and public support, with 

 the eventual recovery to production of the 12,000,000 

 acres of forest land in the State. 



Pennsylvania has thus established a precedent worthy 

 of adoption by all timber producing States. Could a 



more appropriate appeal to the people be made by an 

 executive than for their support in stamping out the 

 fire menace, the curse of the forests? The accomplish- 

 ment of this object would go far toward the solution of 

 our forest problems. In Pennsylvania, where natural 

 reproduction under favorable conditions so generously 

 follows cutting, it would constitute the first and most 

 essential step toward enabling the State to redeem its 

 responsibility in timber production. 



THE FOREST PROBLEM 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S remark that "The For- 

 est Problem is in many ways the most vital internal 

 problem of the American people today" may well be 

 repeated and emphasized on every occasion. 



No one can conceive that a man of Roosevelt's ardent 

 patriotic nature would go out into the fields or the 

 forests and carelessly set them afire; and yet many 

 citizens who profess to be Americans do just this. 

 Patriotism, should include pride in one's country's re- 



sources as well as consideration for its future welfare, 

 love of country and its institutions, and pride in achieve- 

 ment and in progress. A man who burns a forest shows 

 none of these attributes. 



It has been said that "a man who destroys a forest 

 is untrue to himself careless of the rights of his brother 

 men blind to the demands of posterity scornful of the 

 law ; careless of his nation's pride, prosperity and great- 

 ness, and oblivious to the teachings of the faith he pro- 

 fesses !" 



FOREST SERVICE APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1921 



TT'OREST Service appropriations for the fiscal year 

 -*- 1921 as finally agreed to by both Houses of Congress 

 and approved by the President, amount to $6,295,822. 

 Careful study of the various items of appropriation does 

 not indicate any very radical departures from the previ- 

 ous year. Some of the most striking include an in- 

 crease of $50,000 in the appropriation for forest products 

 investigations ; a decrease of $28,728 in the appropriation 

 for silvical and other forest investigations ; a decrease 

 of $25,000 in the appropriation for reforestation on the 

 National Forests ; a decrease of $50,000 in the appropri- 

 ation for permanent improvements ; an increase of $100,- 

 000 in the special appropriation for fire fighting; an in- 

 crease of $25,000 in the item for co-operative fire pro- 

 tection with the States under the Weeks Law ; and the 

 introduction of a new item of $50,000 for air patrol on 

 the National Forests. The changes in the appropriations 

 for forest products and forest investigations are un- 

 fortunate and needless to say, the cuts in the appropria- 

 tions for reforestation and permanent improvements on 

 the National Forests will seriously handicap the effective 

 prosecution of these two important lines of work. 



Another serious handicap which is not quite so appar- 

 ent as those already mentioned is a decrease of 22 in the 

 number of statutory clerical positions at $900 a year. 

 In an attempt to increase efficiency by paying salaries 

 more nearly commensurate with the work performed, 

 the Forest Service had suggested the dropping of 60 

 statutory clerical positions at $900 and the addition of 

 7 positions at $1,800, 7 at $1,600, and 20 at $1,500. The 

 changes would have meant a net decrease in the appropri- 



ation for statutory salaries of $200. Congress accepted 

 in part the proposed reduction in the number of $900 

 positions, and at the same time made no increases in 

 the number of $1,800, $1,600 and $1,500 positions. Thus 

 a reduction is made in the clerical force needed to handle 

 the constantly growing business of the Forest Service, 

 and the opportunity to make merited promotions and to 

 increase efficiency by the payment of fair salaries is lost. 



In the all important matter of fire-fighting, there is an 

 increase of $100,000 in the emergency fire fund ; the 

 appropriation of $250,000 carried by this item does not, 

 of course, indicate even approximately the total amount 

 spent on fire protection. The great bulk of the expendi- 

 ture for this purpose comes from other items providing 

 for the employment of the regular forest force and for 

 general expenses on the National Forests. While the 

 increase in the special fund is to be welcomed as indi- 

 cating some recognition by Congress of the importance 

 of the fire problem, the amount actually appropriated is 

 obviously too small to meet a real emergency. Should 

 such an emergency arise, as it did in 1910, 1917, 1918 or 

 1919, the only recourse left to the Forest Service is to 

 incur a deficiency. It would be much preferable from 

 every standpoint to have the emergency fund sufficiently 

 large to be really effective in meeting a crisis, which 

 under unfavorable conditions is likely to occur at any 

 time. 



The addition of $25,000 to the appropriation for co- 

 operative fire protection with the States under the Weeks 

 Law marks real progress. It is only to be regretted that 

 the addition was not larger. The Secretary of Agricul- 



