CUTTING REQUIREMENTS 353 



administrative machinery for the purchase of forests in the Zone of the 

 Rear, other American officers were stationed at the headquarters of our 

 Army at Chaumont and established direct connections with the French 

 Army organizations which controlled timber supplies in the War Zone. 

 Their procedure for acquiring forests, based upon martial law, was 

 much more direct and expeditious. 



Scouting France for Timber. — Thereafter the acquisition of forests for 

 operation by our troops, which began to arrive in October, 1917, moved 

 forward rapidly. The advance guard of foresters and lumbermen who 

 preceded the troops were employed largely on reconnaissance to locate 

 suitable operating units. As each battalion of forest engineers arrived, 

 one or more of its officers took up the same work in their immediate 

 operating region. Reports on desirable areas came in thick and fast 

 and their acquisition was pushed through the various stages as rapidly 

 as possible. Notwithstanding many delays and difficulties and the 

 inability to carry through requisitions of private forests in some in- 

 stances, the Forestry Section was able to locate all of its incoming troops 

 at operating points without loss of time and to keep them continuously 

 supplied with timber. 



Cutting Requirements Imposed by the French. — The French agencies 

 retained control of the technical requirements to be observed in all 

 forestry operations and frequently inspected the American cuttings. 

 The methods of cutting State and communal forests were drafted by 

 the conservator of the district and fixed in the terms of cession. Officers 

 of the Forest Service inspected these operations very closely. Cutting 

 regulations applicable to private forests were usually outlined in the 

 report of the expert commission in connection with the appraisal of the 

 timber. These were later embodied and sometimes changed in the 

 formal contracts made with the owners of the forests by the local timber 

 centers. Such contracts were almost uniformly delayed until long 

 after cutting had begun; but a liaison officer, representing the Inspector 

 General in each region, directed the methods to be followed in cutting 

 private forests and settled complaints from owners. In the Army Zone 

 these duties were discharged by an engineer officer representing the 

 Timber Supply Service of the Army staff. 



The requirements of French forestry were rather strictly enforced 

 in operations on State or communal holdings. In a few instances even, 

 large, full-crowned fir or spruce trees had to be limbed before felling in 

 order to reduce the injury to young growth when they were brought to 

 the ground. In a few cases the terms of cession required cutting out 

 patches of briars to facilitate the regeneration of the forest or pulhng 

 up the stumps of species like beech, which the French foresters wished 

 to get rid of for silvicultural reasons. The piUng of slash was required 



