182 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



"The number of men coming to us who have appointments as rangers and 

 guards is decreasing, and a larger proportion of younger men who have not had 

 extensive woods experience, but who have had at least several years of high 

 school training, are applying the course. This change, however, is in its infancy. 



1, 2, 3 and 4. "With the foregoing in mind I think it should be evident 

 that the nature and scope of the work will depend largely upon the local conditions. 

 I do not believe that a standard course of instruction which would fit all schools, 

 could be drawn up; nor would the best curriculum for the conditions of today 

 necessarily be the best two or three years hence. In order to answer this question 

 completely, I shall have to consider the following conditions : (a) The character 

 and the past training and experience of the men who are applying for positions ; 

 {b) The problem of meeting new conditions. The equipment of the men applying 

 for instruction demands that the instruction be wholly practical and under men 

 who fully appreciate the needs of the students and their previous training. The 

 work as now being carried out at the University of Washington, where the curri- 

 culum covers a period of three months each, during two years, seems satisfactory. 

 I should say that the instructors should be men who are closely in touch with the 

 field work. 



"In regard to meeting new conditions, if I judge aright, from the present 

 tendencies, the demand for ranger instruction by those already employed by the 

 Forest Service, will fall off and in the near future there will probably be a 

 demand for instruction from younger men who wish to take up ranger work in 

 the Forest Service, with the various State forestry departments, and by the 

 owners of private holdings. T^iese men might probably be trained in the estab- 

 lished secondary schools (high schools), or by means of a two-year technical 

 course at the universities, following a high school training. Personally, I should 

 favor the latter. Specialization in high school work to the extent that would 

 be required to make an efficient ranger, must be considered a .poor educational 

 policy, because it would rob the young men of the training that they should have 

 in order to gain a broad view of life. I believe it would be a tendency to result 

 in, what in plain pedagogical terms, would be called 'arrested development.' So 

 I should, above all else, start out with a broad foundation and add the technical 

 work to this. In a two-year course I should advise also that a larqe portion of 

 the work of the first year be given over to mathematics and_ scientific subjects 

 related to forestry and that the work of the second year be chiefly technical and 

 practical with, perhaps, one-half to two-thirds of the time devoted to class-room 

 and laboratory work, and one-third to one-half to practical field work. The field 

 work should follow the lecture work closely. Apprentice work should be taken 

 up during the summers. There is always a demand for additional men during 

 the summer months. Young men who intend to take up the work of the ranger 

 school might begin doing guard work their first summer, i. e., between the gradua- 

 tion from the high school and their entrance into the ranger school. During their 

 first year at the ranger school they should be given some work that will enable 

 them to do a higher class of work during their second summer vacation. It will 

 be found that these students can be depended upon to do more satisfactory work 

 as temporary employees than the class of persons otherwise available for the 

 summer months only. The position that the ranger would fill would be largely 

 one of carrying out the administrative work of a definite area of forest land 

 under the direction of the forest supervisor, the State forester and his assistant- 

 ants, or under the direction of a superior officer of the large private owner. In 

 addition he would assist the technical man in carrying out the various phases of 

 technical work. 



6. "I should not favor instruction entirely on the apprenticeship basis. I 

 should, however, be very strongly in favor of having the teaching staflF composed 



