14 Miscellaneous Circular 15, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
OUTSTANDING POINTS IN FOREST SERVICE HISTORY 
On August 16, 1876, Congress appointed Dr. Franklin B. Hough 
as-Commissioner of Forestry. 
In 1877 Congress granted its first appropriation, $6,000 for forestry 
purposes. 
In 1881 the Division of Forestry was established in the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture as an information bureau only. 
By act of Congress, March 3, 1891, the President was given power 
to establish forest reservations and President Harrison established 
the Yellowstone Park Timber Land Reserve. 
The act of June 4, 1897, authorized the administration of the forest 
reserves, which were then under the Department of the Interior. 
On July 1, 1898, there were 6 clerks and 6 scientific employees 
in the Division of Forestry. 
The act of February 1, 1905, transferred the forest reserves and 
the authority to administer them from the Secretary of the Interior 
to the Secretary of Agriculture, and the work of the service as we 
know it to-day began. In July, 1905, the Bureau of Forestry became 
the Forest Service. 
In 1907 the name of the forest reserves was changed to national 
forests to correct the impression that they were withdrawn from use. 
In 1908 the direct administration of field word was transferred 
from Washington to six district headquarters in the West, and in 
1914 a similar district was established in the Appalachian region, 
while district 8, comprising the Alaskan Forests, was created in 1921. 
National forests now number nearly 150 and embrace approximately 
157,000,000 acres. 
THE FOREST IS YOUR&#RIEND 
The water you drink comes from it. 
Nothing you use or wear could be yours without 
the forest's help. 
The forests are your playground. 
They are wide open for you to fish, hunt, and 
camp. 
—Gifford Pinchot. 
THE FOREST FIRE IS YOUR ENEMY 
