June 11, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



897 



exceed the receipts, as is almost invariably 

 the case in important economic reforms, 

 but outla3^s may be expected to diminish 

 in proportion as the administration is faith- 

 ful, intelligent and honest. 



To inaugurate at once a complete system 

 of forest administration would be to attempt 

 more than is wise or feasible at this time ; 

 but the necessity of prompt action for the 

 protection of the forest reserves from fire, 

 illegal pasturage and other depredations is 

 urgent, and efficient temporary police meas- 

 ures are needed immediately. A plan for 

 the temporary care of the forest reserves 

 may be wisely based on the experience 

 gained in the management of the national 

 parks. This clearly shows that it is possible 

 to protect forests in the most exposed and 

 difficiilt ]3arts of the public domain with 

 small bodies of troops ; whereas, before 

 soldiers were detailed to police the Yellow- 

 stone National Park, all efforts to manage 

 it by civil officers of the government had 

 shown the futility of any attempts at con- 

 trol which did not rest on the moral and 

 physical support of the army. » 



The primary object of such temporary 

 management would not be to produce a 

 revenue, but to protect the reserves against 

 fire and depredation. It should be the 

 duty of the superintendents to issue 

 passes to persons desirous of entering or 

 crossing them, and to keep a careful record 

 of the names and residences of all such 

 persons. Sheei> should be wholly excluded 

 from the reserves, and cattle should be ad- 

 mitted only in moderate numbers and when 

 the property of actual settlers on adjacent 

 lands. 



The fundamental principle of any gov- 

 ernment system of forest management 

 should be the retention of the fee of forest 

 lands, and the sale of forest products from 

 them at reasonable prices, under regula- 

 tions looking to the perpetual reproduction 

 of the forest. While it is not desirable. 



perhaps, that the government in the im- 

 mediate future should enter into competi- 

 tion with the private owners of forest 

 lands, it is evident that ultimately the sale 

 of forest supplies from the government 

 timber lands should not only cover all ex- 

 penses of government forest management, 

 but produce a steadily increasing income. 



Upon ofiicers charged with the adminis- 

 tration of the government forests will de- 

 volve the care of immensely valuable public 

 property, its improvement under the best 

 established scientific methods, police re- 

 sponsibility of exceptional delicacy, sur- 

 veys, the construction of roads and engi- 

 neering works for the protection of moun- 

 tain slopes, and the control of numerous 

 agents widelj^ separated and not easily 

 trained to habits of discipline. Many of 

 these duties are essentially military in 

 character, and should be regulated for the 

 present on military principles. Wise for- 

 est management calls for technical knowl- 

 edge which must be based on a liberal scien- 

 tific education. The forest ofiicers must 

 be men of the highest personal character, 

 who can be trusted to avoid participation 

 in any private business connected, how- 

 ever remotely, with forest products. To 

 secure the service of men qualified to -meet 

 these several requirements will call for lib- 

 eral remuneration and permanent tenure of 

 office.* 



Topographical and economic surveys 

 upon which it would have been possible to 

 establish scientifically the proper bounda- 

 ries of the reserved lands do not exist and 

 their limits have been laid down roughly 

 with the idea that thej^ would be modified 

 as soon as it was possible to determine ac- 

 curately what portions were more valuable 

 for the production of minerals and for agri- 

 culture and grazing than for their timber 



*A plan for a permanent organization is then 

 recommended, a bill to protect and administer publio 

 forest reserves being given in an appendix. 



