3 : ~ F-515318 
Research forester at the Burlington (Vt.) Project Station checking 
round bottom flask containing sap sample. 
PeSCAREIA 
During the past 50 years, Forest Service research 
has served the Nation well by keeping forestry abreast 
of the people’s needs. Now, with the national popula- 
tion growing rapidly and altering its living habits just 
as fast, we are looking for more ways to meet the 
needs of the future. Research itself is changing. Solving 
many of today’s problems requires sophisticated tech- 
niques and complicated equipment. These shifts de- 
mand new skills in research personnel. Until about a 
decade ago, most Forest Service researchers were 
graduates of forestry schools. Today, most new re- 
search employees have specialized graduate training 
in a basic science or in engineering. 
To illustrate the nature of the tasks and the skills 
required of researchers, here is a partial list of goals 
the Forest Service hopes to achieve in the coming 
years: 
e Increase the growth efficiency of individual trees 
and forage plants through applied principles of 
genetics and physiology. 
® Through weather modification, prevent lightning- 
caused forest fires and increase the productivity 
of forests and ranges. 
e Improve techniques for and reduce costs of deter- 
mining the presence, characteristics, and damage 
of forest pests, fires, and other destructive agents 
through remote sensing. 
e Develop improved techniques for rehabilitating 
eroding land, preventing floods, improving 
aquatic habitats and water supplies, and re- 
storing landscape beauty. 
¢ Through economic analyses and forest resource 
surveys, provide technical information that will 
help rural communities develop and compete for 
forestry-based jobs and industries. Support pro- 
grams to improve rural housing. 
e Provide knowledge for protecting and improving 
forest and range watersheds to assure abundant 
water of high quality, in combination with in- 
creased opportunities for outdoor recreation and 
for production of timber, game, and fish. 
e Devise ways of eliminating air, water, and soil 
pollution through improved forestry activities. 
e Learn how to control forest pests without con- 
taminating the environment or upsetting natural 
communities of plants and animals. 
e Solve the socio-economic and ecologic problems 
of recreation on public and private forest and 
range lands. 
e Devise feasible geographic patterns of wildlife 
habitats that can serve people on all economic 
levels. 
e Determine the requirements for improving and 
maintaining the esthetic qualities of forest land- 
scapes and rural communities through manage- 
ment of forest environments. 
¢ Provide the scientific knowledge needed to raise 
the productive capacity of forests to meet do- 
mestic needs and improve this country’s position 
in world trade. 
e Develop new and improved forest products that 
are of high serviceability and suited to the needs 
and wants of consumers. 
e Provide knowledge that will assure a fair and 
open marketing and distribution system for forest 
products. 
Achievement of such goals requires talents of 
specialists in many sciences. At the present time, some 
