CAREERS IN FORESTRY 15 



responsibility for the development and maintenance of the fire-control 

 organization and other State forestry work in a designated part of the State. 

 The work of the State district forester corresponds generally to that of a 

 national district ranger except that usually he deals cooperatively with 

 private forest landowners rather than supervising work on lands under his 

 own direct charge. About one-ninth of the State and private forest land 

 needing fire protection was still not covered by organized protection in 

 1954, and the protective work on some of the areas covered was inadequate 

 to meet critical fire conditions. Extension and intensification of cooperative 

 fire protection to a degree commensurate with the needs would call for 

 employment of many additional trained men in State forestry work. 



Extension Foresters 



Forestry extension work is another field in which professional foresters 

 find employment in the States in the capacity of extension foresters. These 

 men are associated with the Federal-State cooperative extension program, 

 which emphasizes the use of technical information and practices in the 

 growing and management of timber as a crop on the farm. Every effort 

 is made to build up the forestry knowledge of woodland owners so that they 

 will have sufficient know-how for carrying on work in this field as they do 

 with other crops. This is accomplished by providing owners with practical 

 forestry information, and by conducting tours to forestry research units and 

 successful operations of individual owners. 



Service Foresters 



Thirty-eight State forestry departments are working with the Forest 

 Service in providing technical assistance to owners of private forests and 

 to small sawmill operators and other processors of primary forest products. 

 The Cooperative Forest Management Act of 1950, which replaced earlier 

 legislation under which the work started, is the basis for this cooperative 

 program. In 1953, technical assistance in woodland management was 

 given to approximately 32,000 small owners and 6,500 forest products 

 operators. 



Both farm and nonfarm owners of small forests are now given help in 

 making simple plans for the management of their woodlands; in marking 

 the trees in need of cutting; in measuring these trees and estimating their 

 volume; in determining the proper cutting and logging methods to use in 

 the harvesting operation; and in marketing the harvested products. In 

 addition, many owners are advised on planting, thinning, and pruning 

 operations, as well as on the protection of their forests from fire, insects, 

 and disease. The local forester who handles this cooperative forest-man- 

 agement project work is called the service forester. In some localities, 

 however, he is referred to as the farm forester, county forester, or district 

 forester. 



Community Forests 



A new field of employment for trained foresters is opening up through the 

 development of community public forests by counties, municipalities, school 

 districts, and other local government units or public institutions. Some of 

 the town forests in New England were the earliest public forests in the 



