Forestry Notes. 145 



FORESTRY NOTES. 



Edited by Professor William R. Dudley. 



The latest report of the Commissioner of the Gen- 

 Area of L^j^^ Oi^zQ states that there are now fifty-three 



Reserves. forest reserves in the United States, created by 

 Presidential proclamation, and embracing 62,354,965 acres, 2,179,- 

 200 acres having been added to the total area during the year 

 preceding June 30, 1903. The final report on the large areas 

 suspended in 1902 in Northern California from sale and entry 

 has not yet been made public, although a few thousand acres 

 included in this suspension have been already returned to the 

 public domain as unsuitable for forest or irrigation reservations. 

 It is reported that the Pine Mountain and the Santa Ynez reser- 

 vations in Southern California have been joined by reserved 

 land, and in the future the two will be administered under one 

 head, and under the name of the Santa Barbara Forest Reserve. 



Some years since the Bulletin explained the or- 

 ANAGEMENT g^^ization of the forest-reserve service, under 



the General Land Office of the Department of 

 ESERVES. Interior. It still remains much the same, 



but an important position has been added, that of " Head-Ranger," 

 who directly supervises the field-work of the several rangers of 

 his district. He must have some technical knowledge, particu- 

 larly of forest trees, surveying, and timber-scaling, and is ap- 

 pointed only after a formal examination. The change has proved 

 to be a good one. These better-informed, more responsible head- 

 rangers have in cases of vacancies been left to perform the duties 

 formerly assigned to supervisors, to the betterment of the ser- 

 vice. Time has proven that the forest-ranger system is a 

 good one, if the men are carefully selected on the basis of merit 

 and a knowledge of their duties. They are expected to patrol the 

 forest, occasionally build or repair trails, prevent or extinguish 

 fires, prevent timber depredations, and the pasturage without 

 a permit of domestic flocks and herds. 



The higher officers of the service are expected to determine 

 whether a certain reserve is fitted for pasturage, the number of 



