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- 

 lated 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 



