GENERAL 243 



Controle, P. Jacquin, Besangon, 1886, or La Methode du Controle, 

 published in 1890 by the Exposition Universelle of 1889/^ 



WORKING PLANS 



General. — The working plan, or management plan, is merely the 

 means of enforcing systematic, obligatory, mandatory regulation. It is 

 "The plan or plans under which a given forest property is to be continu- 

 ously managed." In France the government working plans in use to-day 

 are the revised plans, good for only 15 to 30 years. In theory the work- 

 ing plan revisions have to be made at the end of each period, but in 

 Savoie, where the yield will be greatly increased after 20 years, it may 

 be necessary to make revisions oftener. They are simple, concise, and 

 must be followed by the local officer in charge. There is no differentia- 

 tion into planting, protection, grazing, improvement, administration, or 

 felling plans, such as have been attempted in the United States on our 

 National Forests. The French working plan is essentially a timber 

 felling plan for one or more small economic units (or working groups) 

 of a distinct local forest. 



The ideal working plan should control and order the felhngs; but in 

 addition there is a certain suppleness necessary owing to unforeseen 

 accidents which may occur even in well-managed forests. To be suc- 

 cessful, any working plan should be adaptable to local changes, for, 

 without suppleness, a working plan is a failure and the tendency of any 

 working plans officer without experience is to be too narrow and to in- 

 sist on rigid methods appHcable to all forests. 



An excellent illustration of the derangement of working plan yields 

 by windfall is in the forest of Gerardmer. On September 1, 1903, the 

 inspector reported that in the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and 

 eighth working groups, which had a prescribed annual yield of 11,971 

 cubic meters, on account of tremendous windfalls, 46,378 cubic meters, 

 or the yield for almost four years, had already been cut. In the United 

 States fire will be the greatest cause of overturning working plans for 

 years to come. 



The main difference between the working plans ^- of State and com- 



*i Before leaving the subject of regulation the writer should acknowledge that some 

 of the ideas — and very fundamental and sound ones — have been absorbed from the 

 regulation lecture notes of Professor H. H. Chapman of Yale University. Those who 

 had the privilege of hearing Professor Chapman lecture may judge to what extent his 

 technique has been followed. 



^ The stocktaking of an average forest now costs aoout 1.5 francs per hectare, but 

 on account of the increased cost of labor this will soon increase to 2 francs per hectare. 

 No detailed system of cost keeping is kept for different phases of a working plan, but 

 the'total cost per hectare, including office work, boundaries, and compartment bounda- 

 ries, is about 3 francs per hectare (23 cents per acre). (1912 cost data.) 



