242 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



June, 



new obstacles to overcome at every step. 

 To some extent this unsettled condition 

 still exists. New reserves are being cre- 

 ated ; the limits of old reserves are 

 modified. Settlements are springing up 

 along the boundaries of different re- 

 ser\'^es, and great mining developments, 

 with their accessories of roads, railroads, 

 towns, etc. , are rapidly complicating the 

 affairs of the reserves. 



Nevertheless, the experience of the 

 first three years had sulhcienth- demon- 

 strated the need of a number of changes, 

 so that in November, 1901, the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior, in an " Outline of 

 Principles and Practice to Govern the 

 National Forest Reserves," approved a 

 plan modifying the former practice. 

 The following are some of the principal 

 changes directed in the above outline 

 and so far accomplished: 



The position of the superintendent 

 has been modified, so that his duties are 

 practically those of a local inspector. 

 This change became necessary for two 

 principal reasons. In the past the su- 

 perintendent was burdened with so 

 much routine ofltice work that it was 

 impossible for him to take the field and 

 fully attend to his most important func- 

 tion, namely, that of inspection and 

 direction. Besides this, the transmis- 

 sion of all papers through the ofhce of 

 the superintendent added greatly to the 

 delay of important business. An appli- 

 cation for timber, frequently delayed 

 for a few weeks at the supervisor's, 

 owing to distant field duty, would be 

 further delayed by absence from office 

 of the superintendent or by necessitj^ 

 real or imaginary, of referring the ap- 

 plication back to the supervisor and 

 from him, in turn, to the ranger. In 

 this way most vexatious delays occurred , 

 sometimes doing serious and lasting 

 damage to important mining concerns, 

 or hindering materially worthy settlers 

 in their efforts to improve their lands. 



The position of the supervisor has 

 been modified in the direction of giving 

 to it more power and permanence, and 

 also by increasing its duties and respon- 

 sibilities. Instead of receiving all orders 

 and transmitting all reports through the 

 superintendent, the supervisor now re- 

 ceives his orders direct from the central 



office, originates orders and reports, and 

 communicates directly with the central 

 office at Washington. In addition, he 

 is allowed greater freedom in handling 

 his men, has the authorit}' of granting 

 the permits for the ordinary cases of 

 ' ' free use ' ' of timber up to a stumpage 

 value of $20, and grants grazing permits 

 to all residents within the forest reserves 

 where the amount of stock (only horses 

 and cattle) does not exceed one hundred 

 head. In short, he is the real manager 

 of the reserve. Contrar}^ to former 

 practice, most of the super\-isors are no 

 longer paid by the day, nor are all su- 

 pervisors paid the same salarj^ ($5 per 

 day and $1.50 per day in lieu of subsist- 

 ence), but the different supervisors are 

 paid more in accordance with the area 

 of territory in their care and the amount 

 of business transacted by them. On 

 the other hand, it is the intention to 

 continue their servaces throughout the 

 year, irrespective of the location of 

 their reserves. 



In the past, for reasons of econoni)', 

 nearly all supervisors of the northern 

 reserves, including those of the north- 

 ern part of California, in Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Col- 

 orado, and Utah, were dismissed in the 

 fall of the year and reinstated, or new 

 men emploj^ed, in the beginning of the 

 summer of the following year. This 

 has been one of the most discouraging 

 features of the supervisor's position and 

 has deterred many from ever offering 

 their services. To the reserve this in- 

 termittent care was injurious. The 

 absence of any supervisor encouraged 

 trespass in timber and otherwise. The 

 inability of doing business with the re- 

 serve on account of this absence of any 

 manager in some instances urged other- 

 wise honest people to a " help-yourself ' ' 

 method of satisfying their legitimate de- 

 mands. In addition, the supervisor 

 never had time and opportunity to realh^ 

 learn either his business or his reserve. 

 Where a new man was appointed, as 

 was frequently the case, he was obliged 

 to learn everything anew. The agricul- 

 tural settlements in and about his re- 

 serve, the mining and stock interests, 

 everything was new, and, though in- 

 vestigated and reported on repeatedly, 



