192 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



May, 



The greatest difficulty in the organiza- 

 tion of this service lay naturally enough 

 in the lack of good men to be had at the 

 small salary and for only a few months 

 in the year. To increase the difficulty, 

 it was insisted upon by local interests to 

 select from home applicants. The pre- 

 vailing idea naturally was that anj- man 

 could "ride range," as it was called, 

 and that therefore any man should an- 

 swer. Very much the same ideas ex- 

 isted among applicants for the position 

 of supervisor. That any of these men 

 should at least be competent woodsmen, 

 able to survey and estimate the timber 

 to be sold or to be given in cases of 

 "free use;" that they should under- 

 stand a log or wood contract, and thus 

 guard against mischievous errors; that 

 they should be able to scale timber, and 

 to keep intelligent record of the woods 

 business of the reserv^e all these things 

 seem never to have entered the minds 

 of many who presented themselves for 

 positions or of those who recommended 

 the many candidates. The idea of pro- 

 viding competent foresters, who should 

 have trained judgment to assist them 

 in deciding whether a given tract of 

 difficult, protective forest may be cut 

 over or not, could not be entertained, 

 for the simple reason that the foresters 

 did not exist. 



It was necessary, therefore, to move 

 carefully. The men required persistent 

 instructions with regard to every detail 

 of law and of business, and it was nec- 

 essary to use every possible means of 

 surveillance to avoid neglect of duty, 

 intentional or otherwise. 



For the fiscal year 1 898-1 899 Con- 

 gress appropriated $200,000; for the 

 last three years $300,000 per year. Dur- 

 ing the year 1900-1901, with 39 re- 

 serves to look after, the field force, when 

 at a maximum, consisted of one in- 

 spector, 9 superintendents, 38 supervis- 

 ors, and 435 rangers. During the win- 

 ter months of each 3'ear, when most of 

 these high-mountain forests are covered 

 with snow and there is practically no 

 danger from fire or other mischief in 

 most parts of the reserves, the force 

 was reduced, so that, for instance, in 

 December, 1901, nearly half the reserve 

 areas were without either supervisor or 



ranger. This reduction of the force 

 was not so much one of policy, but 

 rather one of necessity, the appropria- 

 tion being entirely inadequate to cover 

 so large a territory. 



This condition, the need of larger ap- 

 propriations, is not well appreciated gen- 

 erally, for but few people seem to realize 

 that there is more to do than merely 

 patrol these mountain woods. Some of 

 the reasons for an increased appropria- 

 tion were set forth as follows in making 

 up the estimates for the year 1 902-1 903, 

 in December last: 



1 . The present fund barely suffices to 

 give the reserves an adequate fire patrol 

 during the summer (danger) months. 



2. It was necessary to reduce the 

 force during the winter (the timber- 

 cutting season) and leave even some of 

 the best forest districts without pro- 

 tection. 



3. Delays in the timber business and 

 consequent trespass and dissatisfaction 

 were caused by a lack of help, and es- 

 pecially a lack of competent help, which 

 made it impossible to supply mining and 

 milling concerns and hundreds of set- 

 tlers with the necessary timber, although 

 suitable material in abundance is ready 

 for the axe. 



4. The small pay offered the rangers 

 has been insufficient to secure men of 

 experience, particularly men versed in 

 the timber business. 



5. Proper inspection and the assist- 

 ance of technically trained men had to 

 be dispensed with, owing to a lack of 

 funds. 



6. Proper forest surveys and the per- 

 manent regulation of the forest business 

 of the reserves are impossible without 

 men of technical training, and without 

 such regulation the business will always 

 be in an unsatisfactory condition, much 

 to the detriment of the reserves and the 

 people having to do business with the 

 reserves. 



7. Additional reserves being created 

 each year require additional help. 



8 . The business of every reserve natu- 

 rally grows with every year in propor- 

 tion as additional settlement and the 

 development of mining and other indus- 

 tries increase the demand for timber and 

 other resources of the reserves. 



