294 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



June 



ment and profit may go hand in hand. 

 In the year 1905 the total sales reached 

 a value of $273,659.82. 



By the Act of March 3, 1891, the 

 President of the United States was 

 authorized to proclaim forest reserves ; 

 a power first exercised by President 

 Harrison, who, on March 30 of that 

 year, created the Yellowstone Park 

 Timber Land Reserve. Authority 

 over these reserves was given to the 

 Secretary of the Interior, the adminis- 

 trative work to be conducted by the 

 General Land Office. 



The mere creation of forest re- 

 serves, however, without provision, 

 for their administration was both in- 

 effectual and annoying to local inter- 

 ests dependent upon their resources. 

 Consequently the Secretary of the In- 

 terior, in 1896, requested the National 

 Academy of Sciences to recommend 

 a National forest policy. This result- 

 ed in the passage of the Act of June 

 4, 1897, under which, with several 

 subsequent amendments, forest re- 

 serves are now administered. 



CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION. 



Still, the result was not satisfactory. 

 Scientific knowledge and a technically 

 trained force were necessary. The Bu- 

 reau of Forestry had frequently to be 

 consulted. Finally, the Act of Febru- 

 ary 1, 1905, was passed, transferring 

 the entire jurisdiction, except in mat- 

 ters of surveys and passing of title, to 

 the Secretary of Agriculture. The ac- 

 tual work of administration was there- 

 upon given to the Bureau of Forestry, 

 since July 1, 1905, styled the Forest 

 .Service. 



The policy upon which these re- 

 serves were to be administered is in- 

 dicated by the following extracts from 

 the letter written February 1, 1905, by 

 the Secretary of Agriculture to the 

 Forester : 



"In the administration of the forest 

 reserves it must be clearly borne in 

 mind that all land is to be devoted to 

 its most productive use for the perma- 

 nent good of the whole people, and not 

 for the temporary benefit of individ- 

 uals or companies. All the resources 



of forest reserves are for use, and this 

 must be brought about in a thoroughly 

 prompt and businesslike manner, un- 

 der such restrictions only as will in- 

 sure the permanence of these re- 

 sources. * * * 



"You will see to it that the water, 

 wood, and forage of the reserves are 

 conserved and wisely used for the ben- 

 efit of the home builder first of all. 

 * * * In the management of each 

 reserve local questions will be decided 

 upon local grounds ; * * * where 

 conflicting interests must be reconcil- 

 ed, the question will always be decided 

 from the standpoint of the greatest 

 good to the greatest number in the 

 long run." 



The principal object of the forest re- 

 serves is use. The policy governing 

 these great storehouses of natural 

 wealth is not one of locking up and 

 rendering inaccessible their resources, 

 but of conserving and multiplying 

 them and making them available to 

 consumers. 



EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION. 



That a Government bureau can ac- 

 tually thus subserve the interests of 

 users is at first a matter of some skep- 

 ticism with practical lumbermen. Their 

 fear is that such work will be con- 

 ducted from a remote Government of- 

 fice by men unfamiliar with local 

 needs. 



It has remained for the Forest Serv- 

 ice practically to demonstrate the 

 groundlessness of these fears. To this 

 end it has rapidly developed an organ- 

 ization. On July 1, 1898, the Division 

 of Forestry employed eleven persons, 

 of whom six filled clerical or other 

 subordinate positions, and five belong- 

 ed to the scientific staff. Of the lat- 

 ter, two were professional .foresters. 

 The Division possessed no field equip- 

 ment ; practically all of its work was 

 office work. At the opening of the 

 present fiscal year the employees of the 

 Forest Service numbered 821, of 

 whom 153 were professional, trained 

 foresters. The field force of the For- 

 est Service contains the grades of For- 

 est Inspector, Forest Supervisor, For- 



