Figure 6. — Large forest fires, such as the 1967 Sundance fire in northern Idaho, are 

 spectacular, destructive, and dangerous. Protection of the forests from uncontrolled fire has 

 always been a prominent aim in the legislation. 



ing, and utilizing timber, forage, and 

 other forest products, of maintaining 

 favorable conditions of water flow and 

 the prevention of erosion, of protecting 

 timber and other forest growth from 

 fire, insects, disease or other harmful 

 agencies, of obtaining the fullest and 

 most effective use of forest lands, and to 

 determine and promulgate the economic 

 considerations which should underlie the 

 establishment of sound policies for the 

 management of forest land and the utili- 

 zation of forest products (16 U.S.C. 

 581-581i, emphasis added). 



The act also specifies that investigations 

 could be made of forest wildlife, "habits of 

 forest animals, birds, and wildlife, whether in- 

 jurious to forest growth or of value as supple- 

 mental resource, and in developing the best 



and most effective methods for their manage- 

 ment and control" (emphasis added). The act 

 established the system of forest experiment 

 stations, of which there are now nine, located 

 throughout the United States. The only re- 

 source use later spelled out but not specifical- 

 ly identified in the McSweeney-McNary Act is 

 recreation, although a very broad interpreta- 

 tion of the phrase "forest products" may even 

 include it. 



Section 9 of the act provided statutory 

 authority for what was to become the Forest 

 Survey unit of the agency (fig. 7). The pri- 

 mary objective specified was a comprehensive 

 survey (or inventory) that would facilitate 

 balancing the timber budget of the United 

 States. Funding for this operation was and is 

 separate from the overall budget allotment to 

 research in the Forest Service and has been 

 periodically adjusted upward to reflect in- 



24 



