Budgets and Financial Control in the National Forest Service
| Author | Roy Headley |
| Published date | 01 May 1924 |
| Date | 01 May 1924 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271622411300108 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
51
Budgets
and
Financial
Control
in
the
National
Forest
Service
By
ROY
HEADLEY
Assistant
Forester,
U.
S.
Forest
Service
WHILE
the
task
of
the
National
Forest
Service
includes
promot-
ing
the
practice
of
forestry
by
states,
municipalities
and
private
owners,
a
very
large
proportion
of
its
expendi-
tures
are
applied
to
the
protection
and
administration
of
146
national
forests
created
for
the
primary
purposes
of
timber
production
and
watershed
pro-
tection.
In
connection
with
the
production
of
timber
on
these
national
forests,
nu-
merous
by-products
are
utilized
or
created
and
some
research
and
some
plain
law-enforcement
work
is
carried
on;
but
there
is
a
sharp
distinction
be-
tween
the
main
purpose
of
the
Forest
Service
and
that
of
other
federal
or
state
organizations
which
are
engaged
in
the
usual
governmental
functions.
This
distinction
needs
to
be
recognized
in
order
to
understand
the
financial
problem
and
practices
of
the
Forest
Service.
A
large
part
of
the
energies
of
the
Forest
Service
are
directed
to
the
management,
protection
and
develop-
ment
of
a
vast
estate
of
157,000,000
acres
reserved
by
the
Government
for
public
service,
usually
the
production
and
protection
of
raw
materials
es-
sential
to
a
permanently
sound
eco-
nomic
and
industrial
national
structure.
&dquo;Timber
farming&dquo;
is
the
phrase
which
most
aptly
expresses
its
work.
Grazing
administration,
while
incidental
to
timber
production,
is
the
second
largest
activity
on
the
national
forests.
This
activity
is
guided
by
the
broad
policy
of
so
regulating
the
use
of
intermingled
forest
and
forage
as
to
produce
and
make
available
for
use
the
greatest
combined
value
of
timber
and
livestock
products.
The
fact
that
the
main
purpose
of
the
Forest
Service
is
the
production
of
raw .
materials
calls
for
an
approach
to
its
financial
problems
quite
different
from
that
which
is
suitable
to
the
usual
gov-
ernmental
organization.
When
a
federal
bureau
is
engaged
in
the
production
and
sale
of
such
com-
modities
as
timber
and
forage,
its
ex-
penditures
must
be
budgeted
and
controlled
under
considerations
corre-
sponding
closely
to
those
which
control
a
manufacturing
business.
It
is
true
that
not
all
the
products
of
the
national
forests
are
sold,
but
it
is
required
that
every
service
rendered
the
public
and
every
commodity
produced
on
the
national
forests
have
a
value
to
the
public
worth
more
than
it
costs.
This
value,
which
is
often
difficult
to
meas-
ure
in
dollars
and
cents,
is
at
least
easier
to
weigh
in
terms
of
relative
worth
and
cost
than
in
the
case
of
law-
enforcing
or
tax-collecting
functions,
for
example.
PERSONAL
SERVICE
AND
TIME
BUDGETING
Another
fact
having
an
important
bearing
on
the
problem
of
budgetary
control
is
that
the
work
of
the
Forest
Service
is
mainly
a
matter
of
personal
service.
In
the
fiscal
year
1923,
out
of
a
total
of
$6,936,817
expended
from
the
regular
appropriation
for
the
work
of
the
bureau,
$4,930,107
was
expended
directly
for
salaries
and
wages,
and
$972,535
more
was
required
for
travel,
forage
of
animals
used
by
rangers
in
To continue reading
Request your trial