ally also has the advantage of being able to carry on original studies 

 in connection with his regular school work. 



Conservation and elementary forestry are taught in some secondary 

 and vocational schools, but the subject matter is seldom so technical 

 as to call for advanced forestry training. Some foresters, however, have 

 gone into high school teaching, and have found their forestry training 

 useful. 



WOMEN IN FORESTRY 



Forestry has generally been considered man's work. It will probably 

 continue to be primarily, although not necessarily exclusively so. A 

 few women have acquired technical training in forestry and have 

 found employment in this field— for the most part in research or edu- 

 cational work. There have been instances of women successfully man- 

 aging logging and other industrial forest enterprises, having in most 

 cases "grown up in the business." 



The opportunities for women in technical forestry work, however, 

 are limited. Many outdoor positions are necessarily restricted to men; 

 physical difficulties and other conditions in the field make the employ- 

 ment of women impracticable from the standpoint both of the em- 

 ployee and the employing agency. And since experience in such field 

 work is generally a requisite for promotion to higher administrative 

 or technical positions, women are unfortunately at a disadvantage. 



In the nontechnical field, many women are employed in forestry 

 agencies as clerks, stenographers, secretaries, draftsmen, etc.; and as a 

 result of experience and special aptitudes, some have risen to impor- 

 tant positions. The woman who trains as a professional forester, how- 

 ever, is not apt to find a ready-made job waiting for her. She will have 

 to compete with men trained for the same work and demonstrate her 

 special fitness in what has been largely a man's field. 



LOOKING TO THE FUTURE 



Forestry is one of our youngest professions. Fifty years ago there 

 were practically no trained foresters in the United States. Starting 

 from scratch, the forestry movement in just a few decades has made 

 notable gains. Forest conservation as an ideal has won general ap- 

 proval. As yet, however, the practical methods and principles of 

 forestry by which real conservation may be achieved are too little 

 understood by the general public. 



Forestry's greatest possibilities lie in the future. Forestry practice 

 now is being applied only to a fraction of the Nation's forest area. 

 National interest and security eventually will demand the institution 

 of sound forest management on all of our forest land— one-third of the 

 country's land area. The need for men with professional forestry 

 training should increase rather than diminish. How rapidly this need 

 will increase will depend ultimately upon public demand for the ex- 

 tension and intensification of sound forest practice, both on public 

 and private lands. Public interest and understanding of the Nation's 

 forest situation and its relation to national progress and human wel- 

 fare will largely determine future career possibilities in forestry. 



■fr U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1945—656271 



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