Chapter 6
The history of forestry in Europe has a certain importance in throwing light on our own forest history and its probable development, and this is especially true of the history of the administration of Government forest lands and of education in forestry.
The history of forestry in the United States, however, is far more important. The Forester must know the story of the growth and change of National Forest organizations, the Forest Officers and their duties, the cost, size, and effectiveness of the Government Forest Service at different times, the Civil Service regulations under which it is recruited, and other similar matters. It is important likewise for him to become thoroughly saturated with an intimate knowledge of the development of forestry in public opinion in the United States, its extension to the other natural resources through the conservation policy, and the relation of the Forester's point of view thus expressed to the present welfare and future success of the Nation.
It is not always possible for the forest student to become a woodsman before entering his profession, but it is most desirable. A Forester must be able to travel the forest alone by day and by night, he should be a good fisherman and a good hunter (which is far more important than to be a good shot), and deeply interested in both fish and game. The better horseman he is the better Forester he will be, and especially if he can pack and handle pack horses in the woods. So that whether the young Forester begins with a practical knowledge of woodcraft or not, he must not fail to acquire or improve it, for without it he will endanger the whole success of his career.
Some knowledge of first aid to the injured is likely to be of great and sudden value to a man so much of whose life must be spent in the woods, at a distance from medical aid. The time spent in getting information on this subject will be anything but wasted.
ENGLISH:
The ability to write and to speak good, plain, understandable English is a prime requisite in the Forester's training. It is a part of education frequently neglected, especially by those in engineering or scientific pursuits; yet its importance for the Forester is very large. As already pointed out, the Forester is on the firing line of the conservation movement; he is pioneering in a new profession. For this reason he will often need to explain his stand and convert others to his beliefs. In addition, he must make available to others the results he secures from the study of new facts. A usable command of his own language will stand him in good stead, whether he needs to talk face to face with another man, or from a platform to a concourse of people, or to put into readable printed form the results of his observations or his thinking.
When the young Forester has completed the courses of his school training in America, the question may be raised whether he should supplement his training by study abroad. I am strongly of opinion that he should do so if he can. Study abroad is not indispensable for the American Forester, but it can do him nothing but good to see in practical operation the methods of forestry which have resulted from the long experience of other lands, and especially to become familiar with the effect of sound forestry on the forest.
+-----------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | Page 135 windbrakes changed to windbreaks | +-----------------------------------------------+
End of Project Gutenberg's The Training of a Forester, by Gifford Pinchot