STATUS OF FOKESTEY IN THE UNITED STATES. 



he is always selected for his wide practical knowledge of the West 

 and of lumbering and grazing in particular. If not a trained for- 

 ester himself, he has such a man as an assistant. 



It is the business of the forest supervisor and his forest assistant 

 gradually to bring their Forest under practical, conservative man- 

 agement — to make every square rod of forest land produce tall, 

 straight timber trees of the best quality. Each step, from the care 

 and protection of the young growth to the lumbering of the mature 

 forest, must be carefully planned and as carefully executed. Per- 

 manence is the ideal striven after; the forest must go on producing 

 trees as long as trees are needed. 



For each of the many lines of work carried on in the National Forests, 

 men with practical experience are employed. The planting assistant, 

 who prepares and tends the nurseries, must be well practiced in rais- 

 ing and caring for young trees. The lumberman, who cruises and 

 estimates timber, helps to plan logging operations, and sees that the 

 scaling is correctly done and that rules for logging are properly ob- 

 served, must be an experienced and capable woodsman. The forest 

 ranger patrols his district of the Forest to see that fire and trespass 

 are prevented, that the range is not overgrazed, that logging regula- 

 tions are enforced, and that the permits granted for the use of the 

 various forest resources are not abused; and he also must be hard- 

 headed, practical, and thoroughly honest, an able-bodied citizen of 

 the West, with plenty of experience in all the problems with which 

 he may have to deal. The forest assistant is usually a college grad- 

 uate with a technical training in forestry. In addition to his scien- 

 tific training, the American forester must have abundant practical 

 experience in the woods, on the range, and in the mills, for he must 

 thoroughly understand all conditions before attempting to work out 

 a system of good business management for any Forest. 



Following is the number of forest officers on duty on December 31, 

 1908: 



Supervisors 106 



Deputy forest supervisors 70 



Forest assistants 117 



Forest planting assistants 11 



Lumbermen 17 



Forest rangers 188 



Deputy forest rangers 420 



Assistant forest rangers 413 



Forest guards 151 



Total 1,493 



NATIONAL FOREST BUSINESS. 



The following tables show the growth of the timber sale and graz- 

 ing business of the National Forests from 1904 to 1908, inclusive 

 (fiscal years) : 



[Cir. 167] 



