Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and 

 sent to Gifford Pinchot, first head of the For- 

 est Service, the same day that the Transfer 

 Act was signed by President Roosevelt, con- 

 tains a statement of agency policy. According 

 to former Chief of the Service Edward Cliff, it 

 "has guided the Forest Service for nearly a 

 century, and still does so today. [It is] at the 

 very heart of Forest Service history." 29 The 

 letter, actually written by Pinchot, reads in 

 part, 



In the administration of the forest reserves it 

 must be clearly borne in mind that all land is to 

 be devoted to its most productive use for the 

 permanent good of the whole people and not 

 for the temporary benefit of individuals or 

 companies. All the resources of forest reserves 

 are for use and this use must be brought about 

 in a thoroughly prompt and businesslike man- 

 ner, under such restrictions only as will insure 

 the permanence of these resources. 



The vital importance of forest reserves to the 

 great industries of the western states will be 

 largely increased in the near future by the con- 

 tinued steady advance in settlement and devel- 

 opment. The permanence of the resources of 

 the reserves is, therefore, indispensable to con- 

 tinued prosperity, and the policy of this De- 

 partment for their protection and use will in- 

 variably be guided by this fact, always bearing 

 in mind that the conservative use of these re- 

 sources in no way conflicts with their perma- 

 nent value. You will see to it that the water, 

 wood, and forage of the reserves are conserved 

 and wisely used for the benefit of the home- 

 builder first of all; upon whom depends the 

 best permanent use of the lands and resources 

 alike. The continued prosperity of the agricul- 

 tural, lumbering, mining and livestock interests 

 is directly dependent upon a permanent and ac- 

 cessible supply of water, wood, and forage, as 

 well as upon the present and future use of these 

 resources under businesslike regulations, en- 

 forced with promptness, effectiveness, and 

 common sense. 



In the management of each reserve local ques- 

 tions will be decided upon local grounds; the 

 dominant industry will be considered first, but 

 with as little restriction to minor industries as 

 may be possible; sudden changes in industrial 

 conditions will be avoided by gradual adjust- 

 ment after due notice; and where conflicting in- 

 terests must be reconciled, the question will be 

 decided from the standpoint of the greatest 

 good of the greatest number in the long run. 30 



The Pinchot Letter places its strongest 

 emphasis on the "permanence" of the forest 



29 Letter from Edward P. Cliff, Chief, to Regional 

 Foresters, Directors, and Area Directors, April 28, 

 1971. 



resources. This has been a consistent policy 

 objective of the Forest Service and is given 

 real meaning in the Multiple Use-Sustained 

 Yield Act of 1960. 



The Pinchot Letter also emphasizes that 

 "all resources of the forest reserves" are to be 

 available for use. This has been interpreted to 

 be consistent with the establishment of wil- 

 derness and primitive areas, among other re- 

 strictions on use. Pinchot stated that these re- 

 sources include not only wood and water, but 

 also "forage." Here we see that Pinchot was 

 placing forage and the range areas within the 

 National Forest boundaries on an equal foot- 

 ing with wood and water. With respect to the 

 conditions necessary for prosperity and the 

 role of the forest in that regard, he makes no 

 distinctions among activities such as agricul- 

 ture, lumbering, mining, and grazing livestock. 

 We do find that there is a distinction to be 

 made between "dominant industries" and 

 "minor industries." Further, his emphasis 

 upon commodity uses of the National Forest 

 resources seems to fit with his well-known at- 

 titude that recreational and wildlife uses of 

 the forest took a second seat (Pinchot 1947, 

 P- 71.) 



The Use Books 



For evidence of internal priority-setting, 

 we turn now to the Use Books, 31 direct 

 forerunner of the present-day Forest Service 

 Manual. The apparent equal-priority approach 

 to timber and forage uses of the forest taken 

 by Pinchot did not last long if the regulations 

 and statements in the early Use Books are any 

 indication. We find in the first Use Book, pub- 

 lished in 1905, that any timber that "can he 

 cut safely and for which there is actual need." 



Emphasis added. The entire letter can be found 

 in many of the Forest Service Use Books cited below. 

 It is also in the history files of all Forest Service of- 

 fice headquarters. The portion of the letter quoted 

 here is found in Cameron (1928) p. 239-240. See also 

 The principal laws relating to . . . Forest Service 

 activities (USDA Forest Service 1964, p. 67). 



31 USDA Forest Service, 1905 ff. Titles of these 

 volumes vary over the years. For convenience they 

 will be referred to here simply as Use Book, with the 

 year of publication. 



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