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Wilson Letter
On February 1, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the act (33
Stat. 628) which transferred the management of the Forest Reserves from the
Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture. That same
day, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson sent a letter of direction to
Gifford Pinchot, Chief Forester in the Bureau of Forestry, concerning the
management of the reserves. It is generally believed that Pinchot wrote the
letter for Wilson's signature.
Wilson Letter, 1905 (PDF)
Department of Agriculture,
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, D.C.
February 1, 1905.
The Forester,
Forest Service.
Sir:
The President has attached his signature to the following Act:
"An Act Providing for the transfer of forest reserves from the Department of the
Interior to the Department of Agriculture.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture
shall, from and after the passage of this Act, execute or cause to be executed all
laws affecting public lands theretofore or hereafter reserved under the provisions
of section twenty-four of the Act entitled 'An Act to repeal the timber-culture
laws, and for other purposes,' approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one,
and Acts supplemental to and amendatory thereof, after such lands have been so reserved,
excepting such laws as affect the surveying, prospecting, locating, appropriating,
entering, relinquishing, reconveying,
certifying, or patenting of any such lands.
"Sec. 2. That pulp wood or wood pulp manufactured from timber in the district of
Alaska may be exported therefrom.
"Sec. 3. That forest supervisors and rangers shall be selected, when practicable,
from qualified citizens of the States or Territories in which the said reserves,
respectively, are situated.
"Sec. 4. That rights of way for the construction and maintenance of dams,reservoirs,
water plants, ditches,flumes, pipes, tunnels, and canals, within and across the
forest reserves of the United States, are hereby granted to citizens and corporations
of the United States for municipal or mining purposes, and for the purposes of the
milling and reduction of ores, during the period of the beneficial uses, under the
rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior and
subject to the laws of the State or Territory in which said reserves are respectfully
situated.
"Sec. 5. That all money received from the sale of any products or the use of any
land or resources of said forest products shall be covered into the Treasury of
the United States, and for a period of five years from the passage of this Act shall
constitute a special fund available, until expended, as the Secretary of Agriculture
may direct, for the protection, administration, improvement, and extension of Federal
forest reserves.
"Approved, February 1, 1905."
By this Act the administration of the Federal forest reserves is transferred to
this Department. Its provisions will be carried out through the Forest Service,
under your immediate supervision. You have already tentatively negotiated the transfer
with the Commissioner of the General Land Office, whose powers and duties thus transferred
I assign to you. Until otherwise instructed, you will submit to me for approval
all questions of organization, sales, permits, and privileges, except such as are
entrusted by the present regulations to field officers on the ground. All officers
of the forest service transferred will be subject to your instructions and will
report directly to you. You will at once issue to them the necessary notice to this
effect. In order to facilitate the prompt transaction of business upon the forest
reserves and to give effect to the general policy outlined below, you are instructed
to recommend at the earliest practicable date whatever changes may be necessary
in the rules and regulations governing the reserves, so that I may, in accordance
with the provisions of the above Act, delegate to you and to forest officers in
the field, so much of my authority as may be essential to the prompt transaction
of business, and to the administration of the reserves in accordance with local
needs. Until such revision is made, the present rules and regulations will remain
in force, except those relating to the receipt and transmittal of moneys, in which
case Special Fiscal Agents of this Department will perform the duties heretofore
rendered by the Receivers of Local Land Offices in accordance with existing laws
and regulations. The Chief of Records, Bureau of Forestry, is hereby designated
a Special Fiscal Agent, and you will direct him at once to execute and submit for
my approval a bond for Twenty Thousand Dollars.
On December 17, 1904, the President signed the following order:
"In the exercise of the power vested in the President by section 1753 of the Revised
Statutes and acts amendatory thereof:
"IT IS ORDERED, That all persons employed in the field and in the District of Columbia
in the 'protection and administration of Forestry Reserves in or under the General
Land Office of the Interior Department' be classified and the civil-service act
and rules applied thereto, and that no person be hereafter appointed, employed,
promoted, or transferred in said service until he passes an examination in conformity
therewith, unless specifically exempted thereunder. This order shall apply to all
officers and employees, except persons employed merely as laborers, and persons
whose appointments are confirmed by the Senate."
This order classifies the whole forest reserve Service, now transferred, and places
it under the Civil Service Law. In the administration of the forest reserves it
must be clearly borne in mind that all land is to be devoted to its most productive
use for the permanent good of the whole people, and not for the temporary benefit
of individuals or companies. All the resources of forest reserves are for use, and
this use must be brought about in a thoroughly prompt and businesslike manner, under
such restrictions only as will insure the permanence of these resources. The vital
importance of forest reserves to the great industries of the Western States will
be largely increased in the near future by the continued steady advance in settlement
and development. The permanence of the resources of the reserves is therefore indispensable
to continued prosperity, and the policy of this department for their protection
and use will invariably be guided by this fact, always bearing in mind that the
conservative use of these resources in no way conflicts with their permanent value.
You will see to it that the water, wood, and forage of the reserves are conserved
and wisely used for the benefit of the home-builder first of all, upon whom depends
the best permanent use of lands and resources alike. The continued prosperity of
the agricultural, lumbering, mining, and livestock interests is directly dependent
upon a permanent and accessible supply of water, wood, and forage, as well as upon
the present and future use of their resources under businesslike regulations, enforced
with promptness, effectiveness, and common sense. In the management of each reserve
local questions will be decided upon local grounds; the dominant industry will be
considered first, but with as little restriction to minor industries as may be possible;
sudden changes in industrial conditions will be avoided by gradual adjustment after
due notice; and where conflicting interests must be reconciled the question will
always be decided from the standpoint of the greatest good of the greatest number
in the long run. These general principles will govern in the protection and use
of the water supply, in the disposal of timber and wood, in the use of the range,
and in all other matters connected with the management of the reserves. They can
be successfully applied only when the administration of each reserve is left very
largely in the hands of the local officers, under the eye of thoroughly trained
and competent inspectors.
Very respectfully,
[signed]
James Wilson
Secretary.
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