In 1881 a Division of Forestry was established in the Department of Agriculture. The Service is responsible for promoting the conservation and best use of national forests, cooperating with administrators of state and private forests, and conducting forest and range research programs. The records of the regional offices and experimental stations document a variety of topics including CCC camps in 1940, World War II emergency fire protection against Japanese drift balloons, and implementation of sustained yield management. The records of individual forests document the development and use of forest resources. The records are administrative guidance, correspondence, diaries, minutes, organizational studies, permit case files, reports, and surveys.
Additional subjects covered include range and wildlife management, homesteads, and recreation.
Selected photographic images and reports are available in the NAIL database . East Meets West on the Pacific Coast For many immigrants, the United States remains a frontier even in the 21st century. For almost half of the 20th century, immigration and movement of persons of Chinese ancestry, whether an alien or citizen, was regulated by the Chinese Exclusion Acts. The files often contain interrogations which detail the person's life in the U.S. or China. Files with material after 1925 may be restricted but earlier files are open for research.