172 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



schools with their shorter course have proven better suited to the needs of ranger 

 education than have the four-year courses in the secondary forest schools of 

 Bavaria. 



5. "The chief point in locating a ranger school is to have a suitable working 

 field close by. It is not material whether it be in the forest or out, so long as 

 the forest be readily accessible. 



6. "I do not believe that foresters actually engaged in the management of 

 forest property have, as a rule, sufficient leisure time to give students the proper 

 training. Better results would be secured by making up a small faculty of men 

 experienced in the work of the Federal (or State) Service. 



7. "I believe that the need for ranger schools in the United States is practi- 

 cally confined to the Federal and State services. I am not qualified to judge as 

 to the needs of the latter; for the Federal Service I am convinced of the need 

 of ranger schools. The District Ranger is not educated up to his responsibilities 

 as he should be to secure the greatest efficiency. More and more work is left 

 to the ranger. I believe there should be at least three government ranger schools 

 in the country. One on the Coast, say in Oregon; one in the Northern Rockies, 

 say at Missoula, Montana ; one in the Southern Rockies, say at Flagstaff, Arizona. 

 If the work in the Appalachians develops to a sufficient extent, there should be 

 a ranger school in that region, too. Attendance at these schools should be com- 

 pulsory for all men who have passed the examination for Assistant Forest 

 Ranger and should precede their appointment to take charge of a district. Men 

 already in the service should be detailed to the school as rapidly as possible until 

 all have attended. The government should defray the cost of educating rangers, 

 paying their travel and subsistence. Each school should have a Director with 

 the rank and pay of an Assistant District Forester in charge of an office. The 

 school should be under the general direction of the District Forester of the 

 District in which it is located and his Assistants should assist in instruction. 



5. "The training in ranger schools should be chiefly local." 



A. B. Recknagel. 



"I submit the following in answer to the questions in the circular letter 

 sent me: 



1. "The work of the ranger school should aim to educate woodsmen, men 

 capable of taking charge of small tracts of timberland and of carrying out the 

 suggestions of professional foresters. The course should aim to satisfy a grow- 

 ing demand for men who desire to live and carry on their work in the woods 

 (rangers), and who will be satisfied with a modest salary. The ranger school 

 should not aim to educate professional foresters, nor to fit men for the U. S. 

 Forest Service through the Civil Service examinations for forest assistants, but 

 rather to educate rangers and assistant rangers, for woods positions in the full 

 sense of the term. The student would pursue such a course because of his 

 preference for a life in the woods. He should be prepared to fill such positions 

 as: — 



Field manager under supervision of technical foresters. 



Nursery foreman. 



Ranger and guard. 



Patrol work. 



Woods foreman in lumber operations. 



Tie and timber inspector. 



Manager of small woodland estates, etc. 



2. "In general, the course in the ranger school should cover the subjects 

 taught in the technical forest schools, but in a more simple manner; greater 

 weight should be given to the practical application of principles and' to such 



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