The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-02
TIMBER STUMP
 AGE BUSINESS
OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH SOLD IN 1905.
Saving the Woods While Selling the Trees-Prompt, Busfness1ike
 Management.

Washington, D. C., May PA natur-
 al feeling among lumbermen toward the
 forest work of the, Government is that
 the Government is not In the lumber
 business and can not. therefore, take
 the lumberman's business point of
 view. Yet a greater misconception
 could scarcely exist. As a dealer in
 stumpage the Government Is the larg-
 est lumber dealer in the county
 Further, it applies to its sales the prac-
 tice of scientific forestry. requiring
 the removal of the timber under the
 same sort of Instructions which 1t ad-
 vfses for private operators. Thus the
 Forest Service. in its reserve work. is
 giing an object lesson on huge scale
 to enforce it's Teachings that conserva-
 tive management and profit may go
 hand in hand. In the year 1905 the to-
 tai sales reached a value of $273,659S2
 By the act of March 3. 1891, the
 President of the United States was au-
 thorized to proclaim forest reserves; a
 power first exercised by President
 Harrison, who, on March 30 of that
 year, created the Yellowstone Park
 Timber Land Reserve. Authority over
 these reser3es was given to the Secre-
 tary of the Interior. the administra-
 tie work to be conducted by the Gen.
 eral Land office.
 The mere creation of forest reserves
 however. without provision for their
 administration, was both : intellectual
 and annoying to local interests depen-
 dent upon their resources. Consequent
 1y the Secretary of the Interior, in
 1S9e requested the National Academy of
 Sciences to recommend National for
 est policy. This resulted Fin the pass
 age of the act of June 4 1897, under
 which, with several subsequent amend
 ments. forest reserves are now admins Change of Administration.
 Still. 3he result was not satisfactory.
 Scientific knowledge and technically trained force were necessary. The Bu-
 reau of Forestry had Frequently to be
 consulted. Finally, the act of February 1. 1905, was passed, transferring the entire Jurisdiction. except In matters of surveys and passing of title. to the Sectetary of Agriculture. The actual
 work Of administration was thereupon given to the Bureau of Forestry, since July l. 1895. styled the Forest Ser vice.
 The Apiicy upon which these reserv- es were to be administered is indicated by the following, extracts from the let ter written February 1, 1905, by the Secretary of Agriculture to the Pores ter:
 Tn the administration of the forest reserves 1t must be clearly borne in mind that all land is to be devoted to its most productive use for the perma- nent good of tke whole people, and not for the temporary benefit of in dividuals or companies All the re- sources of forest reserves are for use. and this must be brought about in a thoroughly prompt and businesslike manner, under such restrictions only as will insure the 3ermanence of ..ese re- sources.
 You will see to 1t that the water, wood, and forage of the reserves are conserved and wisely used for the bene- fit of the home builder frs tof all In the management of each reserve To- cal questions will be decided upon lo- cal grounds where conflict ing intefestes must be reconeilee, the question will always be decided from the standpoint of the greatest good to the greatest number in the long run The principal object of the forest re- serves is dse. The policy governing these gteat storehouse sof natural wealth-is not one of locking up and rendering inaccessible their resources but of conserving and multiplying them and making them available to consum- Effect Organization.
 That Government bureau can ac- tually thus subserye the interests of users Is at first matter of some skep- ticism with practical lumbermen. Their fear is that such work will he conduc- ted from. a remote Government office by men unfamiliar with local needs. It has remained for the Forest Ser vice practically to demonstrate the groundlessness of these fears. To this end 1t has rapidly developed an orga- nization. On July 1, 1898, the Division of Forestry employed eleven persons, of whom six filled clerical or other su- mordinate positions, and five belonged to the scientific staff. Of the lat7r. two were professional foresters. The Division possessed no field equipment; 1 practically all of its work was office work At the opening of the present fiscal year the employees of the For est Service numbered S21, of whom 153 were professional. trained foresters. The field force of the Forest Service contains the grades of Forest 1nspec- tor, Forest Supervisor. Forest Assis- tant, and Forest Ranger. In so far as possible the administration of the re- serves takes place on the ground and with the promptness that is supposed to characterize private business.
 One of the most important aspects of forest administration is the sale of timber All timber on forest reserves which can be cut safely and for which there Is actual need is for sale. Appli- cations to purchase are invited Green timber may be sold except where It's removal makes a second crop doubtful, reduces the timber supply below the AN Nw.k .N GAA aEa,a "a