1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



443 



HON. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, 

 DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 



MR. WALCOTT, as Director of the Geological Survey, has had charge of the mapping of 

 the United States and the study of its resources. Among other duties, there has been 

 entrusted to him the examination of the extent to which the arid lands can be re- 

 claimed : the measurement of streams, the sur\'eys of reservoir sites, and the obtaining of all 

 data leading to the construction of irrigation works. Under the new reclamation law, the 

 Secretary of the Interior has been designated as the responsible officer in charge of this great 

 work, and he in turn has authorized the Director of the Geological Survey to proceed with the 

 work, since in many respects this is a continuation of the investigations carried on through 

 many years. Mr. Walcott's wide acquaintance with the West and his personal knowledge of 

 the conditions existing there, together with his experience in directing a large organization, 

 render him particularly well fitted for the conduct of this important work. 



Mr. W^alcott was born at New York Mills, N. Y., on March 31, 1850. He was educated at 

 the public schools in Utica, N. Y., and early showed a predilection for nature-study, particu- 

 larly geology. He became an assistant in the New York State Survey- in 1S76 ; he was appointed 

 an assistant geologist in the U. S. Geological Survej- in 1S79, the Cambrian rocks and faunas 

 of the United States being his especial subjects of inquiry. He presented his Cambrian re- 

 searches before the International Geological Congress in London in 1888. Since 1S94 Mr. 

 Walcott has been Director of the U. S. Geological Survey. He was the Honorable Curator of 

 the Department of Paleontology from 1892 to 1897, and since 1898 ; from Januar}-, 1897, to July, 

 1S98, he was at the head of the National Museum, with the title of Acting Assistant Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Institution ; he is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and 

 various other scientific bodies, and Secretary of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 



