Forestry Notes 



255 



problems. If the forests were transferred to another department, that 

 department either would have to duplicate these bureaus in part or 

 would have all the difficulties of co-operation with another department 

 which seem to be inherent. Whether the National Park Service should 

 be transferred to the Department of Agriculture is a matter for con- 

 sideration. If the transfer should be made, it would be unnecessary and, 

 in my judgment, unwise to consolidate the work of the two services. 

 The park service should take its place in the organization of the depart- 

 ment as an independent bureau, with its activities closely related to those 

 of the Forest Service. Certainly, if the two services are to be adminis- 

 tered by different departments, there should be the closest co-operation 

 throughout. Such co-operation should include not only the question of 

 the creation of new parks out of national forests, but also fire protection 

 on contiguous properties, game preservation, road building, and other 

 activities. 



Recreation in the National Forests of California 



During the season of 1916 the Forest Service distributed 90,000 recrea- 

 tion maps of nine national forests in California to those planning trips 

 to these forests or to others interested. These maps, prepared by the 

 Service, give detailed information about trails, roads, camping-places, 

 supply-stations, resorts, and points of scenic interest, and also furnish 

 concise histories and descriptions of the forests. 



Fifteen thousand copies of the Handbook for Campers in the National 

 Forests in California were also distributed. This is an interesting and 

 useful pamphlet of forty-eight pages, prepared by the Forest Service. 

 After a foreword, which explains the absence of restrictions on camping, 

 hunting, and fishing in the national forests (except such restrictions upon 

 hunting and fishing as are imposed by the state fish and game laws), a 

 brief description of the forest areas of California and of each particular 

 national forest is given. Some space is devoted to enumerating desirable 

 clothing, camp equipment, and rations for camping in the national for- 

 ests of California. Elaborate instructions are given in building camp- 

 fires, in camp-cookery, in packing (including figures showing how to tie 

 both the ranger-hitch and the bedding-hitch), in first aid in the case of 

 accidents, in fire-fighting, and in the laws pertaining to fish and game, 

 including a separate abstract of California fish and game laws, which 

 is supplied by the State Fish and Game Commission. This interesting 

 little pamphlet ends with useful miscellaneous information, varying from 

 the care of chafed heels to instructions to persons lost in the California 

 mountains. 



The entire stock of both recreation maps and of campers' handbooks 

 has now been exhausted, so great has been the demand for these. Un- 

 fortunately, the appropriation of the Forest Service is not sufficient to 

 permit a new edition to be published at the present time. The members 



