WHAT THE NATION IS DOING. 



WHAT THE NATION IS DOING. 



THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



Congress authorized the President to estabhsh National Forests in 

 1891. They were called ''forest reserves" then, and in fact they 

 were ''reserves/' for Congress did not at that time make provision 

 for the use of their great resources, which are estimated to be worth 

 over $2,000,000,000. A law was passed in 1897, however, which 

 made it possible to use and to protect their resources. To give them 

 a name in better accord with their object, the ''reserves" were 

 renamed ''National Forests" by Congress in 1907. Now there are 

 nearly 195,000,000 acres of National Forests, including about 27,- 

 000,000 acres in Alaska and Porto Rico. The Appendix contains a 

 list of them. 



The object of the administration of the National Forests is to use 

 them in such a way that they will yield all their resources to the 

 fullest extent without exhausting them, for the benefit primarily of 

 the home builder. The controlling policy is serving the public while 

 conserving the forests. 



The administration of the Forests by men actually on the ground 

 is secured by grouping the 150 Forests in 6 districts, with headquar- 

 ters, in the districts, at Missoula, Denver, Albuquerque, Ogden, San 

 Francisco, and Portland. This arrangement also guarantees dis- 

 patch in business and prompt payments. Only matters of excep- 

 tional importance are referred to the Forester, in Washington. 



DISTRICT OFFICES. 



Each of the district offices has at its head a district forester and 

 an assistant district forester. A chief of grazing has charge of range 

 matters. A chief of products handles the preservative treatment 

 and strength tests of timber, and studies market conditions. A 

 chief of silviculture has charge of timber sales, planting, and silvical 

 experiments. A chief of operation supervises the personnel of the 

 Forests; the permanent improvement work, through an engineer in 

 charge; the accounts of the district; and the routine business. 

 The Forest Service never passes on the land titles themselves; this 

 matter rests always with the General Land Office of the Department 

 of the Interior. 



Each of the chiefs and assistant chiefs of office spends about half 

 of his time in the field on forest work. 



FOREST OFFICERS AND THEIR WORK. 



Every Forest is immediately under the charge of a forest super- 

 visor. The supervisor may be a trained forester, but in any case 



rCir. 167] 



