RAISE SALARIES OF FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEES 



425 



while others have two forms of female, one orange and 

 the other blue ; and others again have females resembling 

 the males. 



The high-flying species of Morpho which inhabit the 

 mountainous districts of Western America, are much 

 easier captured than those which frequent the plains, 

 though their capture is often attended with difficulty and 

 danger. One naturalist in Bogota fell over a precipice 

 and broke his arm, and then found that he had three 



days' journey to make on horseback before he could 

 meet with a doctor to set it. Another naturalist, who was 

 collecting in Bolivia, found that Morpho godartii, Guer., 

 a beautiful species, of a rather light blue, which was 

 previously almost unknown to entomologists, frequented 

 an inaccessible ledge in the mountains; he was obliged 

 to have himself lowered by ropes over the precipice be- 

 fore he could obtain it. 



RAISE SALARIES OF FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEES 



I" T has long been a matter of common knowledge that 

 employment conditions in the Federal service are 

 chaotic. This is not surprising in view of the fact that 

 there has been no thoroughgoing reclassification of the 

 service since 1853. The seriousness of the situation, 

 however, has not been generally realized until within 

 the last few years, when a growing discontent and an 

 increasing flood of resignations has threatened the in- 

 tegrity of the entire service, including, of course, the 

 Forest Service. 



As a remedy for this condition the Joint Commission 

 on Reclassification of Salaries has proposed the estab- 

 lishment of 1762 "classes" of positions, the positions 

 within each class involving substantially the same duties 

 and qualifications and receiving the same range of 

 salaries. . 



Seven of these classes have to do with men engaged 

 in forestry, which was classed by the Commission in the e 

 engineering group of services. Two of these classes 

 (Junior Forest Aid and Senior Forest Aid) are sub- 

 professional in character, and five (Junior Forester, 

 Assistant Forester, Associate Forester, and Senior Fores- 

 ter) are professional and include only men having the 

 equivalent of a degree from an institution of recognized 

 standing with major work in the biological or engineering 

 sciences. Aside from the degree of responsibility involved 

 and the length of experience required, the definitions of 

 duties and qualifications for the various classes in these 

 two groups are so similar that sample definitions for one 

 in each group will serve to indicate their general 

 character. 



Thus the duties of the Senior Forest Aid, who corre- 

 sponds to the present Forest Ranger, are to perform, 

 under immediate supervision, minor technical work in 

 an organization engaged in scientific forest research or 

 in the management of forests ; and related work 

 as required. Examples of such duties are assisting 

 in forest investigations, or in timber and range estimat- 

 ing; planting; assisting in the preparation of material 

 for timber tests ; reading instruments at experiment 

 stations ; protecting and handling a minor forest unit. 

 His qualifications are to be training equivalent to that 

 represented by graduation from high school, and not 

 less than two years' experience in forestry work. 



The duties of a Junior Forester, who corresponds to 

 the present Forest Assistant, are, under immediate super- 

 vision, to perform scientific or technical work of a 



routine character in connection with the administration 

 of forest areas and the utilization of products therefrom; 

 and to perform related work as required. These duties 

 may involve running boundary lines and mapping forests, 

 involving the use of surveying, measuring, and draft- 

 ing instruments; directing parties on forest and range 

 valuation work ; computing and compiling data for re- 

 ports or records; inspecting or investigating minor de- 

 tails of forest work, such as forest planting, proper 

 brush disposal, marking of timber on timber sale areas, 

 collecting field data for growth, volume, and yield tables ; 

 making routine tests of apparatus, material, or processes. 

 His qualifications are training equivalent to that repre- 

 sented by graduation with a degree from an institution of 

 recognized standing, with major work in the biological or 

 engineering sciences, preferably in botany, silviculture, 

 forest management, or forest engineering. 



The statements of duties and qualifications proposed 

 by the Commission follow very closely those suggested 

 by an Advisory Committee composed of representatives 

 of the Forest Service. While the titles used are different 

 from those now in effect, comparatively little change is 

 made in recognized duties and qualifications, the pro- 

 posals of the Commission serving to crystalize present 

 practice. It is worth noting that in the bill proposed by 

 the Commission for carrying into effect its recommenda- 

 tions, it is provided that whenever the equivalent of 

 graduation from an institution of recognized standing is 

 prescribed as a qualification for a class, the Civil Service 

 Commission shall prescribe as such equivalent a standard 

 or standards based on experience or demonstrated ability 

 in the performance of duties similar to those prescribed 

 for the class which will be accepted as such equivalent. 

 This provision was of course included in order to make 

 certain that men qualified by experience for entrance into 

 the professional classes should not be debarred from 

 them because of the lack of a college degree. 



The compensation recommended by the Commission 

 for the various classes of foresters is as follows : Junior 

 forest aid, $840 to $1200 per year; senior forest aid, 

 $1200 to $1800; junior forester, $1800 to $2160; assist- 

 ant forester, $2400 to $3000; associate forester, $3240 to 

 $3840; foresters, $4140 to $5040. 



No salaries were recommended for senior foresters or 

 for the chief of the forest service, these salaries being 

 left for determination by Congress on the recommenda- 

 tion of the Civil Service Commission after consultation 



