The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1908-12-25
TWO NEW NATIONAL FORESTS
Purpose and Scope of New District Admin
istration of National Forests

The institution of six district Offices
in the west by the United States For
est Service, big piece Of work which
has just been completed, involves a
complete change in the machinery Of
this branch of the government as re-
CARDS the handling of National Forests.
AS a result of the reorganization, the
Forest Service force at the headquar-
tiers in Washington has been reduced to
the general administrative officers and
to those who are conducting the in
vestigative work Of the Service out
side of the National Forests.
The six districts which have the
same boundaries as the old inspection
districts will be in charge of six Dis
trict foresters with headquarters in
Denver, Colo. Ogden, Utah; Albu-
querque, N. Mex; Missoula, Mont;
San Francisco, Cal; and Portland, Ore;
For nearly year preparation for the
District organization has been going
quietly but steadily forward. This
has thrown an additional burden upon
force already excessively busy, but
the work has been accomplished and
accomplished on time. The tran
sition has been particularly remarkable
because it involved no material delay
in the transaction of National Forest
business while the change was going
on.
The Forest Service,' said Clifford,
Pinchot, United States Forester, is
putting large part of its work into
the field, where it belongs. The Or
ganization on December /, of the
National Forests into six Districts,
each in charge of local force under
District Forester, is something We
have been working towards for long
time. That we have not done it sooner
is because we did not have a sufficient
number of trained men to equip the
Districts.
The District organization will mean
a much freer use of the National For
ests by the people, because there will
not be the delay inevitable so long as
National Forest business is handled
from Washington. 1t is also going
to mean that there will always be Of
icers with the power to make decisions
near the ground, who can look into the
facts for themselves, wherever neces-
sary, without having to decide them at
long range. I believe every man who
uses the National Forests will realize
these things inside of six months"
1t is probable that there have never
been new Government Offices started
with their procedure so fully and def
nitely outlined as that for the six Dis
trict offices of the Forest Service in
the West. 1t has been possible to
start all the Offices well equipped with
men with both the training and ex-
perience to take up the work. A large
proportion of them are men who have
formerly been in charge OF National
Forests and who have been promoted
to higher positions as the direct result
of their efficiency. All the District
officers are familiar with Western con-
ditions; many of them were born in
the West and lived there before and
after they entered the Government
Forest work.
To Florida goes the distinction OF
getting the first National Forest created
east of the Mississippi river. President
Roosevelt has just signed a proclaim
alton setting aside and naming the
Ocala National Forest in Marion county
in eastern Florida and another proclaim
alton creating the Dakota National
Forest in Billings county, North OAK
ota. Inasmuch as the last named
National Forest is the first in North
Dakota, the two proclamations add two
more states to the list of those wherein
land will be put under scientific forest
administration. There are now nine
teen states, and Alaska, having National
Forests.
Before the creation Of the Ocala, IN
Florida, the two forests in Arkansas,
the Ozark and the Arkansas, were the
eastermost National Forests. Practic-
ally all the other Notional Forests are
:. Il D.L AGovo4ain and fhe Pacific