Past and Present 

 Improvements on the Sierra National Torest 



Cheater E. Jordan 



T7e all know that "permanent improvements' 1 play suite a 

 part in forestry, although they are not of suoh importance 

 thc.t forestry would be at a standstill no Improvement appro- 

 priation beins nade for any one year. If the sane thing 

 should happen for many consecutive years, l^vever, the prac- 

 tice of forestry would have to stop. 



Improvements liave their importanee in every branch of 

 the forest work, from silvl culture down. A great part of 

 the rangers' tine in the past lias been devocecl to this class 

 of work, for the reason that it has been absolutely necessary 

 if the Torest Service was going to care for the needs of the 

 public and open up the forest resources. The Improvement 

 appropriation has always been inadequate, so In aany oases 

 it has been necessary to spend an entire sub-allctnent for ma- 

 terial -nd - during the time of year when administrative work 

 was light - do the construction work ourselves. 



Y7e have been going through two stages in improvenents : 

 the past has been the time of make-shift construction - tem- 

 porary work; the present end the future are to see more per- 

 manent work. At first Improvements were nade where the c'.e- 

 mand for them was greatest at the time. Bapld charges wore 

 being made in organization and in policy, and it was not deemed 

 advisable to nake very permanent improvements until conditions 

 were mere settled. So fences were built wi^tli the leasjr amount 

 of material possible , trails and tele. hone lines were laid out 

 over the routes of least resistenoe, and other improvements 

 followed the same general style of cons'truo'tion and even so 

 only those were considered that were absolutely necessary for 

 the handling of what was then the most important business of 

 the .-crest. 3uoh things as piping water into dwellings, or 

 installing bath tubs or any other of the accessories were not 

 even mentioned. And yet, knowing the conditions, the men were 

 content. 



However, tlxat preliminary stage has been past for some 

 time. The emergency needs have been caret! for, ar.d there Is 

 now opportunity to consider per^ianenoo in all improvements. 

 -"hen the annual escirxvtee are nade, all improvement projects 

 are very carefully considered with regard to their relative 

 importance. Standards havo bee:; -&C.e for nearly all branch- 

 es of the vor!:, and as repairs become necessary on iorvu-?.y- 

 oonstructec. projects, the*; are brought nearer to the 



