Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-14

| Idaho; from the brush-covered foot
hills Of the San Bernardino Mountain.
| IN southern California to the vas,
| softwood stands of the Olympics and
| Cascades in northern Warrington, the
national forests lie mainly on the
| mountain slopes In these rugged
| regions, permanent forests make the
land of the highest service to man
| kind.
The timber. water, grazing. recre-
ational opportunities and other re-
| sources of the forests are for the
use of the people. They contribute
| largely to industrial enterprise.
| through their yearly cut of over q
| billion board feet of timber, mostly
! used by sa%mills and mines. They
protect the watersheds OF about one
| third Of the watcr-power resources
! Of the United states. They supply
| hundreds Of cities and towns with
| drinking water. They furnish pastur-
age for iocks and herds of live stock
which aggregate many millions of
animals.
Thousands Of miles OF roads and.
trails built by the Government are
now open TO the public and make
many regions avails BILE for recrea-
| ton, which formerly were inacces-
sible. The fact that more than To-
100000 automobiles are now used IL
the country brings the forests rnucI; e.
closer to the families Of the owners
who can spend their holidays in the
| big woods. Telephone lines. bull,
to enable forest lookouts to report
fres promptly. connect the most re
mote sections OF the forests with tb.
| outside world. and can be used for
the transmission of important private
messages.
| Uncle Sans many forest rangers
and guards who police the national
forests often work as adept wood
land detectives in ferreting out the
causes of destructive fires and in run
| nlng TO earth carless campers o.
!vacationers whose neglected Camp
hres started the dangerout blazes. B
! curious hoof marks and foot tracks
| by means Of automobile tire tracks
by laundry marks on lost handkeY-
chiefs. by grocery orders or othes
camping debris the rangers tract
and trail offenders who have violated ,
the rules and regulations in respect
to care with campfres. tobacco, and
other fnfamatory materials
, Remarkable tales, as thrilling as
the detective yarns of fiction, could
be told Of the outstanding sagacity o.
| these forest policemen.
! The great Forest Service has 10
| combat forest fires and other de
structive forces in it's maintenance
! of our national woodlands. 1t oper-
ates large nurseries and plants trees
| on cut-over. burned-over and other
wise deforested areas. 1t protects
the forests as far possible againsf
the Nasaries of nature. II keers
| tab on the trees which should be cut
1t replaces these with young growth.
! 1t keeps the forests clean and clear
! 1t aids in the enforcement of Stat.
| game laws. It prevents trespass and
poachlng. Its duties are SO numer-
Gus as to prohibit complete enumera-
uon. Worthily and we'll. 1t performs
an lts duties. 1t does everything pos
si0ie to atone for Americas tree
| timber and lumber prohigacy Of for
mer years.
1.-THE mana gement Of the LAT ma
tlonal forests, scattered as they
are over Americas expansive man
is centralized in Washington in the
r street headquarters of the forest
service yopngish-looking man OF
! scholarly mien pres,des over the des-
TIMES of our treefand empire Bui
do not be deceived by the youthful
| appearance Of Col. Greeley. Uncle
Sans chief forester. He is a leading
! forestry expert. His training ami
| experience have admirably equipped
| him for the responsible position
| which he now fills creditably. His
{ NdfIiul experiences PROVIDED him
with detailed insight into the methods
and manners in which Europe handles
| her national forests
| Col. Greeley entered the forest
| service in 1904. His first assignment
was to make general study of the
forest types and valuable timber
! species in the Southern Mountain
! States. Later, Clifford Pinchot, then
| chief forester. sent Greeley back to
1 NT-h he H..
| timber utilization and sales systems
| which have since been so successful
In time, Greeley was appointed super
| visor of the SeQuoia national forest i,
| California, which covered about
| 100000 acres. The young forester
| spent two and one-half years there,
| developing that forest, building roads
| and trails. reducing fire hazards.
| terminating grazing trespass anG
| settling range warfare between the
| cattlemen and sheep raisers.
| In 1905 Forester Pinchot trans
| ferred Mr.. Greeley to the supervision
| of the forest district of Montana and
| northern Idaho. Terrible forest Ares
| aided by a hurricane burned over
/ 100000 acres OF that region in 1910
| and markedly increased Greeleys re-
spon sibilities and labors. In that fire
season 90 men lost their lives because
of the hurricane, which swept the
| fires beyond human control Greeley
was tested by fire and tempered for
4 greater tasks and achievements
| Subsequently, he doubled the cut Of
I marketable timber from the national
! forests of his district without depict
! ing any OF their potentialities. H.
! solved the riddles associated with the
differentiation between agricultural
and forestry lands so that large areas
of the former could be opened to en-
| try and homesteaders
! A dozen years ago Col. Greeley was
/ recalled TO Washington to develop a
| timber sales policy for all our ma
! tional forests. In 1877 he went TO
| France as major in the Engineer
! Corps. At the end of the war lie
was colonel in charge of 1000
| men and 90 complete sawmills and
understanding operations.
Returning To Washington after the
armistice, Col. Greeley resumed his
duties as chief of the timber sales
division of forest service. On the
resignat ton OF Col. II. G. Graves a.
chief forester four years ago, the
Secretary of Agriculture selected Col.
Greeley as boss woodsman of our nr-