STORY OF OUR NATIONAL FOREST 133 



"The most critical phase of this whole develop- 

 ment is the constantly greater demand for business 

 and technical efficiency which it has imposed upon 

 the personnel of the Forest Service. The duties of 

 the average forest ranger and forest supervisor, in- 

 deed of every grade in the field and administrative 

 personnel, have enormously expanded both in volume 

 and variety. Forest officers who a few years ago 

 were largely custodians of public property have be- 

 come business managers, disposing of public re- 

 sources on a large scale and dealing with the local 

 public as responsible representatives of the National 

 Government in an immense range of contacts and 

 obligations. The technical work required of the 

 trained foresters, lumbermen, and grazing experts 

 in the Forest Service has vastly increased in its de- 

 mands in the degree of competency required, par- 

 ticularly since the state of theory and experiment 

 has long passed and sound technical practice must 

 now be applied on a large scale in the current use of 

 resources." 



The Forest Service is a bureau of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, maintaining its general ad- 

 ministrative office in Washington. 



The hundred and sixty National Forests are di- 

 vided among eight Districts, each in charge of a 

 District Forester who maintains an office in some 

 convenient city with a sufficient staff. Each forest 

 is under a Supervisor with an office staff, specialist 

 assistants and a ranger force. Rangers are in charge 



