Forestry Notes. 



137 



"This is a matter on which it will be necessary for you to put 

 your very best effort. If there is any help that can be given by 

 the Washington office, let me know. From the time this work 

 first starts I want you to keep me fully informed of its progress 

 by monthly reports." 



When the various district offices of the 

 District Offices. Yov^si Service were estabHshed in the 



West, a big step was taken toward transferring into the field the 

 actual work of administering the National forests. The district 

 offices have now been in operation for about six months, and the 

 wisdom of their establishment has been demonstrated. Restrict- 

 ing the forests to be looked after by each district office to those 

 where conditions are similar has enabled the officers in charge 

 of various lines of work to secure a much fuller grasp of detail 

 than was possible when affairs were administered from Wash- 

 ington, and many questions of policy must necessarily be con- 

 sidered from the standpoint of all the forests. 



, Another step is about to be taken by the 



Supervisors Service to still further simplify the car- 



Offices Jurisdiction. ^.^^ ^^^.^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^.^^^^^ 



it has been decided to transfer certain lines of work entirely to 

 th€ supervisors, making them solely responsible for results. When 

 this is done the district offices will have much more time for 

 the actual supervision of work in the field, since a great deal of 

 the routine office work which now demands their attention will be 

 transferred to the supervisors' offices. 



The lines of work thus transferred include the record of all 

 permanent improvement work, the issuance of special-use permits 

 not involving the execution of bonds or involving water power or 

 other natural resources, action on claims where the applicant's 

 good faith is shown and the land is not needed for administrative 

 purposes. Also, all small or unadvertised timber sales will be 

 acted upon directly by the forest supervisor and record of these 

 sales will be kept only in the supervisor's office, to be checked up 

 from time to time by members of the district office. 



This step is not in the nature of an experiment, but is following 

 out a policy which has been contemplated for a long time, but 

 the execution of which has had to wait until this time because it 

 was not deemed at first advisable to place this full responsibility 

 upon the supervisors. The time has now come, however, when 

 it is felt that this new move will mean increased efficiency in the 

 transaction of National forest business. F. E. O. 



