26 MISC. PUBLICATION 1(32. U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



It was soon apparent that scientific fore-try wa> rjecessary for the 

 proper management of the reserves, and officials of the Department 

 of the Interior requested the aid of the experts in the Bureau of For- 

 estry in the Department of Agriculture in the solution of technical 

 problem.-. Later they recommended the transfer of the reserves to 

 the Department of Agriculture. In 1905 the reserves were trans- 

 ferred to the Bureau of Forestry, which then became the Forest 

 Service. Two years later the reserves were designated " national 

 forests", and were grouped for administrative purposes according 

 to districts. There are now nine of these groups, known as " national- 

 forest regions," with a regional forester in charge of each. 



The Chief of the Forest Service is known as the Forester, and is 

 responsible directly to the Secretary of Agriculture. Assisting him 

 is an associate forester. In addition, his staff consists of a chief of 

 finance and accounts, a chief engineer, and seven assistant foresters, in 

 charge of the various lines of work carried on by the Forester's office 

 in Washington. The regional foresters are also responsible to the For- 

 ester, and their offices follow the same organization as the Forester's. 



At present there are 148 national forests, covering approximately 

 161,000.000 acres. Most of these forests are in the West and were 

 set aside from lands already owned by the Government. Under 

 the Weeks law, passed in 1911. the Government has purchased lands 

 for the purpose of protecting the headwaters of navigable streams 

 and for timber growing. From these lands and from comparatively 

 small areas of public land have been formed the national forests 

 of the East and South. In 1924 the Weeks law was superseded by 

 the Clarke-McNary Act, under which all purchases of land for 

 national-forest purposes are now made. 



NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRATION 



National forests are in reality huge timber farms, operated for the 

 benefit of the Nation as a whole. Lying as they do in all the forest 

 regions of the country, they contain some representation of most 

 of the important commercial timber species. The production of 

 timber is one of the main reasons for their establishment, and they 

 are managed so that they will produce a continuous supply. In 

 them are therefore found stands of trees ranging from tiny seed- 

 lings to veterans of perhaps several hundred year-' growth. Mature 

 or ripe standing timber which is not growing at a profitable rate and 

 which should be cut to make room for the younger generations, may 

 be advertised and sold on the open market to the highest bidder. 

 All cutting, however, must be done according to forestry principles, 

 trees being left to form the basis of future crops. On the watersheds 

 of streams, care is taken not to cut to such an extent as to impair the 

 protective cover that the forest affords, for the national forests are 

 as important to the Nation as conservators of water as they are for 

 the production of timber. They also serve the public in many other 

 ways — as grazing grounds for thousands of head of cattle and sheep, 

 as recreation grounds, and as homes for wild life. 



The general manager in charge of each of Uncle Sam's timber 

 farms is known as the forest supervisor. The supervisor is directly 

 responsible to the regional forester and with the latter plans the 

 work of his forest. Upon the supervisor devolves the successful ad- 

 ministration of the forest. He must see that a continuous supply of 



