U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION No. 290 



Washington, D. C. Issued January 1938, Revised January 1945 



THE WORK OF THE D.S. FOREST SERVICE 



Prepared by the Forest Service 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 2 



The national forests 4 



The forest-conservation movement . . 4 



Forests created from the public domain 5 



Acquisition of national forest land ... 6 



Purchase areas 6 



Exchanges 7 



Donations 7 



Guiding principles of national forest 



administration 8 



Management of timber resources ... 10 



Range resources and their use 11 



Protecting our watersheds 12 



Recreational facilities 12 



Conservation of wildlife 14 



Receipts from the national forests . . 14 



Improvements in the forests 15 



Reforestation and range reseeding . . 15 



Fire prevention and control 18 



Fire-fighting equipment 20 



Forest-insect and tree-disease control . 20 



Page 

 Cooperation with States and private 



owners 21 



Better management of private forests . 21 



A four-point program 22 



Farm forest work 23 



Naval stores program 24 



Aid to the States 24 



Community forests 24 



Shelterbelt project 25 



Forest Service research 25 



Forest management and protection . . 25 



Range investigations 26 



Forest economics 27 



Forest influences 27 



Forest products 28 



Information on forestry 28 



Forest Service organization 29 



Civilian Conservation Corps 31 



Wartime activities 31 



Introduction 



The problem of forest depletion, which went on in the United States 

 practically unchecked for more than ioo years, was first seriously attacked 

 at the turn of the twentieth century. 



The need for conservation had been felt for a long time, but it was not 

 until increasing demands of a rapidly expanding civilization sharply acceler- 

 ated the rate of forest use — and misuse — that public opinion called for 

 Federal action to halt the destruction of our forest resources. 



Forests were being logged without thought of future timber requirements. 

 Uncontrolled fires and excessive cutting were destroying enormous areas in 

 forest, preventing natural reproduction of trees, and stripping important 

 watersheds of their protective covering. Overgrazing had seriously 

 depleted a large part of the western range. In short, it was clear that the 

 public, through the Federal Government, must take steps toward the proper 

 management of lands that bear great influence upon the public welfare and 

 exert every effort toward extending the application of sound principles of 

 forest and range management and use. 



At this time, also, the need for scientific forestry became evident. Public- 

 spirited citizens wished to apply this new knowledge in order to restore and 

 maintain the usefulness of the country's forest lands. 



Under scientific methods, timber instead of being "mined" becomes a 

 crop. The mature trees are used as "earned interest," while younger, 

 growing trees are left intact as the "capital stock." The economic and 



