WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE 3 
culture. Integration of forest work with part-time farming to pro- 
vide an adequate livelihood for people living on the small farms of 
the forest regions is an.example of this type of adjustment. 
In summary, the work of the Forest Service is directed toward de- 
termining and applying measures for making our woodlands and re- 
jated wild lands contribute in fullest degree to the lives of our people 
and to the solution of various national problems. 
Government forest work had its real beginning as far back as 
1876, with the appointment by the Department of Agriculture of a 
special agent to study general forest conditions in the United States. 
In 1881 a Division of Foresty was created in the Department, but 
for a long time it received an annual appropriation of less than 
$30,000, and could be little more than a bureau of information and 
advice. The Division grew from this small beginning into the Bu- 
reau of Foresty (1901), and finally, as its field of work expanded, 
into the Forest Service (1905). 
FIGURE 1.—Forested watershed, Pisgah National Forest, N. C. On mountainous slopes 
like this tree growth conserves water, prevents erosion. 
THE NATIONAL FORESTS 
National forests are for the most part located in the mountainous 
regions of the country. Here preservation of tree growth is of 
great Importance in preventing or retarding soil erosion and in 
conserving the waters for use of mankind. 
These timbered Federal properties extend from the hardwoods 
of the southern Appalachians to the spruces of the White Mountains 
in New England; from the pinon and juniper stands where tree 
growth begins in the southern Rockies of New Mexico to the pine 
and fir forests along the Canadian line in Montana and Idaho; from 
the brush-covered foothills of southern California to the great conifer 
stands of the Olympics and Cascades in northern Washington. Even 
