cutting and encouragement of better forest management are needed in 

 order to meet, adequately, the interests of the people as a whole in the forest 

 lands of the United States. 



Throughout the Nation there is the large task of coupling forest and range 

 conservation with the social and economic welfare of communities depend- 

 ent upon forest and range industries. Use of forest and range lands must 

 provide steady, gainful employment for a sizeable portion of the country's 

 population, maintain pay rolls, and sustain the tax base to support the 

 functions of local government. 



In summary, the work of the Forest Service is directed toward determining 

 and applying measures for making our forested lands, grazing lands, water- 

 sheds, and related wild lands contribute in the fullest degree to the lives of 

 our people and the solution of some of our pressing economic and social 

 problems. 



The National Forests 



THE FOREST-CONSERVATION MOVEMENT 



Forestry in the Federal Government had its real beginning in 1876 with 

 the appointment by the Department of Agriculture of a special agent to 

 study general forest conditions in the United States. In 1877 Congress 

 granted its first appropriation of $6,000 for the purpose of obtaining infor- 

 mation preparatory to establishing a Division of Forestry, which was created 

 in 1 88 1. For a long time, however, the division received only a meager 

 annual appropriation and was little more than a bureau of information and 

 advice. 



It was not till 1891 that effective steps were taken to protect the forests 

 on the public domain from destruction by fire and reckless cutting and insure 

 a more regular flow of water in the streams. In that year Congress author- 

 ized the President to set aside forest reserves, as the national forests were then 

 called. The first reserve — the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve — was 

 created by President Harrison. The movement soon gained great momen- 

 tum and before his term expired, Harrison had set aside reserves totaling 1 3 

 million acres. President Cleveland added more than 20 million acres. 



The original act of 1891 made no provision for administering the forests, 

 and withdrawal of the land from all forms of settlement met with vigorous 

 disapproval, especially in the West, where the reserves were situated. These 

 defects, however, were met in some degree by Congress in a law of June 4, 

 1897, outlining a system of organization and management of the forest 

 reserves and placing their administration under the Secretary of the Interior. 



Government administration required the application of scientific forestry. 

 Timber cutting had to provide for the growing of a new timber crop. On 

 the ranges, which had been seriously injured by decades of unrestricted 

 grazing, it was necessary to devise methods for increasing the forage crop. 

 Both timber use and grazing use had to be so managed that watersheds would 

 be adequately protected. Indeed, all the resources of the forests needed 

 careful consideration and plans had to be designed for their best develop- 

 ment. 



The technical problems involved were felt by the Department of the 

 Interior to be outside its province. Consequently aid was requested from 

 experts in the Department of Agriculture — whose Division of Forestry had 

 by 1 90 1 developed into the Bureau of Forestry — but soon transfer of the 

 administration of the reserves to the latter Department was recommended 

 by the Secretary of the Interior. 



