Historic, Archive Document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester kNUA L OF PROCEDURE FOR THE FOREST SERVIC IN WASHINGTON AND IN DISTRICT OFFICES NOVEMBER, 1908 \ j- UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LIBRARY Book number I Issued November 16, 1908. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOREST SERVICE. GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE FOR THE FOREST SERVICE IN WASHINGTON AND IN DISTRICT OFFICES. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1908. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, W ashing ton, D. G ., November 5 , 190S. The procedure described in this Manual will be followed strictly by all members of the Service in Washington and in District Offices. Where knowledge of this procedure is essential to officers on National Forests, because of changes made in the procedure described in the TJse Book, or for other reasons, this type is used. Gifford Pinchot, Forester. Approved : James Wilson, Secretary. 2 3 CONTENTS. Page, Organization 11 General procedu re 12 Regulations and official orders 12 Field program 12 Temporary details . 13 Committees 13 District offices 13 District committee 13 Washington 13 Service committee 13 Committee on business methods 14 Library committee 14 Photograph committee 14 Instrument committee 14 Efficiency reports 14 Material for publication 14 Condemnation or loss of property 15 Leave 15 Classification of correspondence 15 District offices 15 Service correspondence 15 District correspondence 16. Office correspondence 16 Washington 16 Service correspondence 16 Branch correspondence 16 Office correspondence 17 Signing of correspondence r 17 Distribution of mail received 17 Key initials 19 Form of correspondence 19 Date 19 Address 20 Superscription 20 Subscription 20 Language 20 Promises 21 Carbons 21 Initialing 21 Arrangement of letters for signature 22 Envelopes and inclosures 23 Mailing 23 Registered mail 24 3 4 CONTENTS. General procedure — Continued. Page. Files and filing 24 Files 24 Filing 28 Transferring 28 Withdrawals 29 Examination of records by the public 29 Procedure by units in organization 30 District offices 30 Office of the District Forester . _ . 30 Duties 30 Annual estimates 30 Allotment estimates . 30 Appropriation estimates 31 Promotions 31 Law 31 Routine 31 Advice 32 Approval of legal documents and correspondence. 32 Claim contests 33 Court cases 33 Briefs and arguments 33 Recommendation of suit 33 Index cards 33 Collection of state forest laws 33 Miscellaneous projects 33 Operation 34 Routine 34 Organization 34 Allotments to Forests 34 Personnel 35 Eligible list 35 Supervisors’ personnel reports 35 Meetings of Forest officers 36 Protection from fire 36 Equipment and supplies for forests 36 Rerommendations for advertising 36 Engineering 36 Complete plans for improvements - — 36 Estimates for improvements 37 Allotments and authorizations for improvements 37 Record of projects 37 Supervisors’ reports . 37 Vouchers for improvement work 38 District atlas 38 Alienation 38 Drafting and blueprinting 39 Occupancy 39 Boundaries 39 Ranger stations 40 Claims 41 Settlement 41 Special uses ... 43 CONTENTS. 5 Procedure by units of organization — Continued. District offices — Continued. Operation — Continued. Routine — Continued. Page. Accounts 45 Allotment ledger 45 Disbursement ledger 46 Cashbook . 47 Duplicate checks . 47 Verification of depository balance 47 Treasury settlement of claims 48 Daily disbursing balance 48 Allotment and liability record 48 Allotment cards f r offices and sections 48 Salary allotment card 4 * Individual salary card 49 General expense allotment card 49 Individual expense card 49 Cooperation allotment cards 49 Allotment cards for Forests 59 Salary allotment card 50 Individual salary card 50 General expense allotment card 50 Improvement allotment card 50 Fire allotment card 50 Cooperation allotment card 51 Transfer of salary card 51 Voucher and certification numbers 51 Proof of entries 51 Monthly liability and financial statements' 52 Appointment record 53 Personnel index 53 Record of absences 53 Requisitions for funds 53 Treasury notification of warrants issued 54 Certificates of deposit 54 Handling of vouchers for disbursement 54 Audit 54 Review 55 Payment 55 Analysis of forest disbursements ... 55 Voucher register 55 Littlefield report 56 Special disbursing agent’s vouchers and abstracts 57 Receipts and refunds 57 Analysis of receipts 58 Analysis of refunds 58 Comparison of receipts 58, Report of receipts and refunds 59 Abstract of disbursement 59 Accounts current. 59 Transportation requests and mileage books. 59 Identification cards 60 Authorizations for advertising 60 6 CONTENTS. Procedure by units of organization — Continued. District offices — Continued. Operation — Continued. Routine — Continued. Page. Maintenance 60 Quarters 60 M ail and files t 61 Equipment 61 Stenography and typewriting 61 Silviculture 62 Routine 62 Timber sales 62 Class A and unadvertised Class B sales 62 Advertised Class B sales 63 Class C sales 63 Timber settlement 64 Supervisor’s permits 64 District Forester’s and Forester’s permits 65 Administrative use . 65 Free use 65 Supervisor’s permits 65 DLtrict Forester’s permits 65 Modification of contracts 65 Cancellation of contracts 66 Timber trespass 66 Sawmill permits 66 Supervisor’s permits -66 District Forester’s permits 66 Closing cases 67 Summary of timber sale records 67 Estimates 67 Stumpage rates 67 Marking rules 67 Reconnoissance studies 68 Field cost of timber sales 68 Federal cooperation 68 Indian Office 68 Other cooperation 68 State and private cooperation 68 State cooperation 68 Private cooperation 69 Planting 69 National forest planting 69 Cooperative planting 70 Silvics 70 Library 71 Grazing 71 Routine 71 Grazing permits 71 Authorization... 71 Advertising 71 Notices of approval 72 Remittances 72 Yeiification 72 Private lands 73 CONTENTS, 7 Procedure by units of organization — Continued. District offices — Continued. Grazing— Continued. Routine — Continued. Page. Grazing use permits 73 Payments 74 Notification 74 Transfers *. 74 Refunds 74 Trespass 75 Recognition of advisory boards 75 Enforcement of Federal and state quarantine regulations.... 76 Construction of range improvements 77 Killing of predatory animals 77 National game preserves . 77 Complaints 77 Appeals from supervisor’s grazing decisions 78 Cooperative agreements 78 Products 78 Routine 78 Wood utilization 78 Wood preservation 79 Forest Service treating plants 79 Cooperative treating plants 80 Periodic reports to the Forester 80 Law 81 Fire 81 Distribution of service 81 Meetings 81 Permanent improvements 81 Boundaries 81 Ranger stations 81 Claims 82 Settlement . 82 Special uses 82 Personnel 82 Littlefield 82 Receipts and refunds 82 Liability statement 82 Financial statement 82 Temporary labor 82 Timber sold. .. i 82 Free use 83 Maximum cut 83 Stum page rates 83 Timber sale costs 83 Cooperation 83 National forest planting 83 Silvics 83 Grazing permits 83 Grazing trespass 83 Predatory animals 84 General range conditions 84 Timber tests 84 8 CONTENTS. Procedure by units of organization— Continued. District offices — Continued. Periodic reports to the Forester — Continued. Page. Timber treatment 84 Market studies . . 84 Washington . . 84 Office of the Forester 84 Law. 84 Advice 85 Approval of legal forms, etc 85 Operation 85 Occupancy 85 Routine 85 Boundaries 85 Claims 86 Special uses 86 Accounts 86 Routine 86 Appropriation ledger 86 General allotment ledger 86 Treasury settlement of claims 86 Requisitions for funds 86 Notice of warrants issued 88 Accounts current 88 Monthly financial statements 88 Appointments 88 Littlefield report 88 Receipts 89 Authorizations for advertising 89 Geography 89 Routine 89 Atlas 89 Alienation 89 Drafting 89 Photograph y 90 Maintenance 90 Silviculture 90 Routine 90 Cooperation 90 Silvics 90 Library — . . 91 Books for use in Washington — 91 Books for District and supervisors’ offices..,. 91 Periodicals 91 Photographs 91 Lantern slides 92 Grazing 92 Routine 92 Grazing authorizations 92 Federal and State quarantine regulations 92 National game preserves 92 Appeal from District Forester’s grazing decisions 93 Products 93 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE FOR THE FOREST SERVICE. 10 Organization of the Forest Service. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE IN WASHINGTON AND IN DISTRICT OFFICES. ORGANIZATION. The chart, page 10, shows the organization of the Forest Service. The administrative officers of the Forest Service are the Forester, tiie Associate Forester, the Law Officer, and the Chiefs and Assist- ant Chiefs of Branch. The executive officers are the District For- esters, the Assistant District Foresters, Chiefs of Office and Section both in Washington and district offices, and Forest officers in charge of National Forests. Administrative officers only are authorized within their respective fields to issue instructions to District Foresters. But only under grave emergency will administrative officers issue instructions, either in the field or from Washington, to any officer subordinate to the District Forester. In such cases the District Forester concerned will immediately be informed in writing of the character of the I instructions, and to whom they were given. When on duty in a District, Chiefs of Office from Washington will. I by assignment from the Chief of Branch, act either as Inspectors within their respective fields, reporting direct to the Chief of Branch, or as executive officers under the direction of the District Forester, with the status of District Chiefs of Office as hereafter defined. Members with headquarters at Washington below the rank of Chief of Office, while on duty in any District, will always act under the instructions of the District Forester with the status of members of the District office below the rank of Chiefs of Office, as hereafter defined. The District Forester, Assistant District Forester, and Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of Office in the District organization are authorized, within their respective fields, to give instructions to officers on Na- tional Forests within their Districts. Members of the District or- ganization below the rank of Chief of Office, when on National Forests, will, by assignment from their Chief of Office, act as In- spectors within their respective fields, reporting direct to their Chief of Office, or, as executive officers, reporting direct to the Supervisor. Chiefs of Office from Washington and members of the District organization below the rank of Chief of Office, when on National Forests as Inspectors, will give no orders. 11 12 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. GENERAL PROCEDURE. REGULATIONS AND OFFICIAL. ORDERS. DISTRICT OFFICES. When a District Forester finds it necessary to issue instructions under existing regulations to all officers on National Forests in his District, he will submit them to the Forester for publication as a note in the Field Program. Only when to await the next issue of the Field Program would involve serious delay will the District Forester issue such instructions in a circular letter to all officers on National Forests in his District, sending a copy to the Forester. When written instructions to the District Office are necessary, the District Forester will issue them as a memorandum, and the file copy will be initialed to show receipt. In every case a copy of the memo- randum will be furnished to the person who initials. WASHINGTON. Notice of important changes in organization, new regulations, and modifications of existing regulations will be signed by the Forester and published in the Field Program as Service Orders in a num- bered series. They will be mimeographed for distribution only in particularly urgent cases. Regulations dealing wholly with the administration of the Service in Washington will be issued as Office Orders, in a numbered series, and furnished to all Branches and Offices of the Service in Wash- ington. Transient instructions will be issued as memoranda. FIELD PROGRAM. The Field Program will be issued from Washington on the first day of each month. It will contain a directory of the Forest Service in Washington and by Districts, and, as hitherto, changes in personnel during the month, Service Orders, and instructions to officers on National Forests in the form of notes originating in Washington or through the suggestion of a District Forester. All orders and other instructions printed in the Field Program will apply to all Districts. Material intended for the Field Program will be for- warded from District offices in time to reach Washington not later than the 24th of the month. A sufficient number of Field Programs will be sent, in envelopes, to each Supervisor to supply all officers on his Forest. Immediately upon their receipt the Supervisor will have the envelopes addressed and the Programs mailed. Sufficient Field Programs, not in envelopes, will be sent to District Foresters for immediate distribution in District MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 13 Offices. Necessary changes in the number sent any Supervisor will be indicated by him to the District Forester, who will so inform the Forester when he forwards material for the next issue. TEMPORARY DETAILS. DISTRICT OFFICES. The District Forester will detail Supervisors, Deputy Supervisors, Forest Assistants, and in cases of special efficiency, Forest Rangers, to assist as needed in the District Offices of Operation, Silviculture, Grazing, and Prod- ucts. The total number of such details to any District Office for any one year should not fall below 20 men, and may exceed it when necessary. Only in cases of emergency will the period for which any one man is detailed to a District Office exceed six weeks in any one year. WASHINGTON. To keep close touch between officers in Washington and in District Offices, and to aid in the administration of the Forest Service, the Forester will call the following District officers to Washington annu- ally for a detail of approximately one month each: District For- esters, Assistant District Foresters, District Law Officers, and the Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of Operation, Silviculture, Grazing, and Products. COMMITTEES. DISTRICT OFFICES. The District Committee will comprise the District Forester, who will be chairman, the Assistant District Forester, the District Law Officer, and the Chiefs of Operation, Silviculture, Grazing, and Products. The Committee will meet every Tuesday without fail. The following order of business will be observed : Reading of the minutes. Discussion of efficiency reports. Reports of subcommittees. Discussion of reports of subcommittees and of District forest matters. The District Committee will make definite recommendations, but decision will rest with the District Forester. WASHINGTON. The Service Committee will comprise the Forester, the Associate Forester, the Law Officer, and the Chiefs of Branch. The order of business will be as outlined above. 14 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. The Cornmittee on Business Methods will report to the Forester plans for new methods of routine business and changes in the sys- tem of correspondence, filing, bookkeeping, and office procedure gen- erally. New forms and changes in existing forms will be sub- mitted to this Committee for approval, which, on its own initiative, will recommend to the Forester advisable changes in business methods. The Library Committee will make and pass upon recommenda- tions for the purchase of books for use in Washington and in Dis- trict and Supervisors’ offices. The Photograph Committee will examine prints of all photo- graphs taken by members of the Service, and will make recommenda- tions for additions to the collection, and for the gift, loan, or sale of photographic material. The Instrument Committee will recommend the kinds and type of instruments and field equipment for use by the Service. EFFICIENCY REPORTS. DISTRICT OFFICES. Each Chief of Office will submit, in duplicate, the day before $ach meeting of the District Committee, an Efficiency Report on Forms 52 and 53, covering the business of his Office for the past calendar week. The Efficiency Report will be accompanied by a concise memoran- dum, which should include : A brief statement of progress made upon projects or investigations under way whenever there has been progress worthy of mention. A statement of important projects undertaken or business begun. A statement of any occurrences or developments that have arisen in the course of the business of the week. As a basis for this memorandum each Office and Section will keep a daily note of business to be reported. One copy of the Efficiency Report (Forms 52 and 53) and of the accompanying memorandum will be sent to the Forester. WASHINGTON. The above procedure will be followed to cover the work of each Branch, except that Forms 50 and 51 will be used. MATERIAL FOR PUBLICATION. DISTRICT OFFICES, Before material is prepared for publication a synopsis of the pro- posed publication will be submitted to the District Forester, who will MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 15 submit it to the Forester for approval. Manuscripts for publication should bear the initials of the author, the Chief of Office concerned, and the District Forester. WASHINGTON. The same procedure will be followed in Washington, except that synopses and manuscripts will be approved by the Chief of Branch. CONDEMNATION OR LOSS OF PROPERTY. DISTRICT OFFICES. Certificates to the condemnation or loss of property (Forms 858 and 217) charged to members of the District Office or to officers on National Forests will be initialed by the Chief of Office concerned, signed by the District Forester, and sent to the Property Auditor at Ogden. WASHINGTON. The above certificates covering property charged to members with headquarters at Washington will be initialed by the Chief of Branch or Office concerned and signed by the Forester. LEAVE. DISTRICT OFFICES. Chiefs of Office will approve applications from members of their Offices. Applications from Supervisors will be approved by the Chief of Operation. Applications from Chiefs of Office will be approved by the District F orester. WASHINGTON. Applications for leave from members with headquarters at Wash- ington will be made upon the forms and under the procedure pre- scribed by the Department of Agriculture. CLASSIFICATION OF CORRESPONDENCE. DISTRICT OFFICES. The correspondence of District officers will comprise Service, Dis- trict, and Office correspondence. Service correspondence will be submitted for the signature of the Forester, and, in addition to the classes later defined, will comprise: Letters involving new questions of general policy. Other letters which in the judgment of the District Forester are of sufficient importance to require the signature of the Forester. The District Forester will, whenever practicable, submit letters for the signature of the Forester, replying to correspondence of these two 16 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. classes, and not merely statements suggested as the basis for the preparation of replies in Washington. District Foresters will correspond directly with officers not in Washington of other Bureaus in the Department of Agriculture and in other Departments, when to correspond through Washington would seriously hamper work, provided such correspondence does not deal with matters of general policy which fall properly to the Forester. Except as specifically provided herein, District Foresters will not correspond directly with officers in Washington of other Bureaus or Departments. District correspondence will be signed by the District Forester, and will comprise — Letters to the Forester written in the District Office. Letters dealing with matters affecting the District as a whole. Letters materially affecting the standing of any Forest officer. Letters of allotment and of authorization. Contracts and permits approved in the District Office. Office correspondence will be signed by Chiefs of Office, and will comprise correspondence not included under Service or District correspondence. WASHINGTON. Service correspondence will be signed by the Forester, and will comprise — Letters involving matters of policy affecting the Service as a whole. Letters which in the judgment of the Assistant Foresters are of sufficient importance to require the signature of the Forester. Letters making allotments to Branches and Districts. Very important contracts. Branch correspondence will be signed by the Assistant Foresters, and will comprise — Letters dealing with matters of policy affecting the Branches but not the Service as a whole. Letters involving more than one Office of any Branch. The following classes of correspondence will be signed as Acting Forester by the Assistant Forester in charge of the Branch con- cerned : Letters relating directly to the business of the Branch but which must, in accordance with law or regulation, be signed by the Forester or Acting Forester; Letters making allotments to offices and letters of authorization under them ; Contracts binding the Service but not of sufficient importance to require the personal attention of the Forester or the Associate For- ester, and which follow established policies. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 17 Office correspondence will be signed by Chiefs of Office, and will comprise correspondence not included under Service or Branch correspondence. SIGNING OF CORRESPONDENCE. Neither in Washington nor in District or Supervisors’ Offices must the absence of any officer interfere with prompt action upon correspondence. When final action can not be taken at once, the letter should be acknowl- edged immediately and the correspondent informed of the date upon which action will be taken. DISTRICT OFFICES. In the absence of the District Forester, District correspondence will be signed as Acting District Forester by the Assistant District For- ester. Similarly, in the absence of a Chief of Office, correspondence will be signed as Acting Chief by the Assistant Chief. Except in emergency and under the written authority of the Dis- trict Forester, no member of the District Office below the rank of Chief or Assistant Chief of Office will sign mail to Forest officers or to the public, and then only as Acting Chief of the Office concerned. But mail relating to the actual settlement of accounts will be signed by the District Fiscal Agent. WASHINGTON. Letters to District Foresters will be signed only by the administra- tive officers of the Forest Service. Letters to the public will be signed by members in Washington below the rank of Chief or Assistant Chief of Office only when authorized b}^ the Chief of Branch con- cerned, and then only as Acting Chief of Office. DISTRIBUTION OF MAIL RECEIVED. & DISTRICT OFFICES. The mail clerk will open and refer to offices by rubber dating stamp all letters and. telegrams except letters obviously personal, which will be delivered unopened. Telegrams will always be referred by mes- senger immediately upon receipt. Upon request of any Office the mail clerk will refer specified classes of incoming mail to the file clerk, who will attach previous correspondence (in designated transactions, the folder), to letters referred. The Chief of each Office will designate a member of his Office to whom incoming mail will be delivered and who will be responsible 61048— OS 2 18 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. for its prompt distribution. As received from the mail clerk each letter will be stamped with the “ Received ” stamp of the Office, and numbered in the upper right-hand corner. At the same time a pink slip, 3 by 5 inches, will be attached, bearing the letter number, the Received ” stamp, the key initials of the Office or Section in which the letter is to be answered, and the time limit for action. A dupli- cate of this record will be kept by the clerk who distributes the Office mail. The date of reply, or the fact that no reply is necessary, will be noted upon the pink slip, which will then be returned and filed for use in compiling the weekly Efficiency Report. After this report is made the slip will be destroyed. Throughout the course of the letter the pink slip will always be attached on top of all papers as a constant call to prompt action. When a letter does not pertain wholly or mainly to the work of the Office to which it has been referred, the clerk charged with the distri- bution of mail in that Office will refer it by rubber stamp to the ap- propriate Office, where it will be handled in accordance with the above instructions. When a letter is answered or acknowledged the date will be entered upon it by the stenographer in the space provided in the ■“ Received ” stamp. The District Forester will acknowledge letters requiring action by the Forester or by another District Forester on a postal card (Form 41) and refer them by rubber stamp. Only in those rare cases in which the form postal card is not sufficient will the acknowl- edgment be made by letter. Each member who prepares letters will keep a basket on top of his desk, in which only unanswered letters or other matter for action will be placed. Unanswered letters or other papers dealing with unfinished current busi- ness must not be kept in drawers or pigeonholes. Important papers will be safely put away at the close of the day. WASHINGTON. The procedure will be as prescribed for District Offices. Letters requiring action by a District Forester will be acknowl- edged on a postal card (Form 42), and referred by rubber stamp. Only in rare cases where the form postal card is not sufficient will the acknowledgment be by letter. Letters referred from the office of the Chief Clerk of the Depart- ment of Agriculture will be distributed in the same manner as other letters. The mail clerk will keep a record of the receipt and reference of such letters to insure the prompt return of the jackets, on which the taction taken will be noted. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 19 KEY INITIALS. DISTRICT OFFICES AND WASHINGTON. Every letter dealing with a designated transaction or subject will bear its designation directly above the first line of the address. Mem- bers signing mail will see that this rule is observed, since correct filing depends upon its observance. Key initials (See Forms 18 and 49) will be used for referring memoranda and other papers in Washington and in District Offices. When a document is sent to several Offices or Sections a slip upon which their key initials are entered will be attached, and the key initials crossed off as action is taken by each Office or Section. Each letter written in Washington or in a District Office will bear in the upper left-hand corner the key initials of the Branch, Office, or Section charged with the class of business dealt with in the letter. FORM OF CORRESPONDENCE. DISTRICT OFFICES AND WASHINGTON. All letters will be double spaced, except for quotations, which will be single spaced. No soiled or rubbed letter will be signed, nor any letter in which correc- tions are carelessly made. Copying ribbon will be used for letters prepared for the signature of the Secretary of Agriculture, and for letters of special importance signed by the District Forester; as, for example, those of which copies might be needed as evidence in legal action. Care will be taken that the ribbon is changed often enough to insure good press copies. All other letters will be written with black record ribbon. Letters should have a margin of approximately 1 inch on both sides of the page. All legal documents will be written on letter-size paper. The pages of all documents and letters except those of only one page will be numbered at the bottom of the page, in the middle. To give space for the number, the last line, should be at least three-quarters of an inch from the bottom. When a letter is of more than one page, all pages except the first will bear the initials of the person addressed, on the left side in a separate line at the top. All memoranda apd typewritten scratch copies will be on yellow paper. Correspondence and final reports for use outside the Service will be on white paper. DATE. The date should be about half an inch below the lowest printed line on the letter head. The month should not be abbreviated. Figures only should be used for the day, as “ March 30.” 20 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. The date will be omitted in letters prepared for the signature of the Secretary of Agriculture until they have been initialed by the For- ester, and in letters prepared in District Offices for the signature of the Forester. ADDRESS. The name and address should he double spaced when they take but two lines, and singde spaced if more than two. Special care will be taken to prefix the correct title, either official or honorary. The official title will be omitted from letters written to members of the Service by name. SUPERSCRIPTION . “ Dear Sir ” should ordinarily be used. Only in very formal letters should “ Sir ” be used. Titles should be written out. SUBSCRIPTION. With “ Sir: ” use “ Very respectfully; ” with “ Dear Sir: ” “ Very truly yours; ” with “ Dear Mr. ,” or “ My dear Mr. ,” “ Very sin- cerely yours.” LANGUAGE. Use direct, clear-cut language. Avoid odd or unwieldy words when shorter, simpler ones will express the idea equally well. Be concise but courteous. Avoid laborious statements, the essence of which might well be expressed in half the space. Very few letters need be longer than one page. Never use the substance of the letter received as a preamble to the reply. Unless the letter to be answered has already been acknowledged and further reference to it is necessary, its contents should not be indi- cated in the initial sentence. Deference must always be made, however, to file numbers or initials given for identification. For acknowledgments or replies, the initial sentence should usually be in this form: “ Your letter of March 30 is received.” In addressing the Forester, the District Forester should refer to the key initials on the letter answered, and its date; for example: “Your letter (00) of March 30 is received.” In referring to National Forests the words “ Forest ” and “ Forests ” will always be capitalized. The previous or the following month should be named and not indicated by “ ultimo ” or “ proximo.” The following words and phrases used in commercial correspondence should be avoided: ‘‘Aforesaid;” “Answering your letter;” “ere” instead of “ before; ” “ extend courtesies,” etc.; “ I beg to say; ” “ I have MANUAL OF PEOCEDUEE. 21 to state; ” “ I will say; ” “ I would say; ” “ in regard to the same ; ” “ our Mr. — ; ” “ pleased ” (as “ I am pleased to learn ”) ; “ relative to; ” “said report;” “your favor;” the present participle at the beginning of the last sentence of a letter, as “ Thanking you for your kindness in this matter.” The phrase “ you will ” should not be used in giving orders or instruc- tions. It is peremptory without adding force, and a friendlier tone is more courteous as well as more effective. Severity of expression will be avoided in conveying reprimands in cor- respondence. It should be borne in mind that the purpose of punctuation is a clear understanding of the text by the reader. Too little punctuation is almost as bad as too much. - PROMISES. When a promise is made, do not use such indefinite phrases as “ within a few days,” “ before long.” Specify the date upon which action will be taken, or, in the rare cases when that is impossible, give the approximate date. The promise card system should be fully used for recording promises (U. B., p. 197). CARBONS. Each letter and telegram written in the Service will be prepared with one carbon copy, unless additional copies are needed for reference. DISTRICT OFFICES. Each letter written in District Offices for the signature of the Sec- retary of Agriculture or of the Forester will be prepared with three carbon copies. Two will be sent to Washington with the letter for signature, and the third held in a waiting file by the file clerk. Upon the receipt from Washington of one carbon stamped with the signa- ture of the Forester, the carbon in the waiting file will be destroyed. WASHINGTON. All letters prepared in Washington will be written with one carbon copy. When a letter prepared in a District Office is signed by the Forester, one of the two carbons which accompanied it will be filed, and the other will be stamped with the signature of the Forester and returned to the District Office. INITIALING. DISTRICT OFFICES. When a letter is of more than one page all initialing will be on the first page of each carbon. Signatures will not be stamped on carbons until after letters are signed. 22 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. Letters written in a District Office will not be initialed on the original. The carbon will bear in the lower left-hand corner the written initials of the author, of the Chief of the Office in which the letter was prepared, and, if the letter is to be signed in Washington, of the District Forester. The initialing for authorship will be omitted when the District Forester or the Chief of Office himself dictates and signs the letter. When a letter or document prepared in one Office is of interest to another Office, it should be initialed by the Chief of the latter, to signify his concurrence or to fix his responsibility for carrying out proposed wmrk which falls to him. The stenographer will stamp his initials in the lower right-hand corner of each carbon. If the letter contains inclosures, or if future action is promised, the stenographer will stamp his initials twice, as a guaranty that the inclosures have been prepared, or that the action promised has been noted. When this action can not be taken immediately, a promise card will be prepared, retained by the stenog- rapher, or given to any other person responsible for taking the action promised. When a letter entails typewriting by one stenographer and the preparation of inclosures or other action by another, the initials of both stenographers will be stamped in the lower right- hand corner of the carbon. When the signer makes any changes with the pen, in a letter of which he is not the author, he will send it to the author in order that the changes may be noted and entered on the carbon, before the letter is sent to the mail clerk for mailing. The above procedure applies equally to telegrams. In signing or approving memoranda, requisitions, and other in- terior papers, only the initials will be affixed. Absolutely without exception, every statement, memorandum, map, or document of any kind will be dated, and initialed for authorship. WASHINGTON. The above procedure will be followed, except that letters for the signature of the Forester will bear the initials of the Chief of Branch concerned, and that letters for the signature of the Secretary will be initialed by the Forester in the upper left-hand corner. ARRANGEMENT OF LETTERS FOR SIGNATURE. DISTRICT OFFICES AND WASHINGTON. In arranging letters for signature, the stenographer will place on top the letter to be signed, then the carbon copy, then the answered letter or other papers, and last the addressed envelope. When a let- ter is to the Forester, to a District Forester, or to a Forest Supervisor, the envelope will be omitted (see Mailing). In arranging several MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 2& related papers for signature, each place will be indicated by inserting a half sheet of yellow paper. When a letter is of more than one page, the page for signature will be placed on top. This procedure does not apply to carbons. In arranging letters written with copying ribbon, the stenographer will fasten a sheet of yellow paper over the first page to keep it from becoming blurred. ENVELOPES AND INCLOSURES. DISTRICT OFFICES AND WASHINGTON. The stenographer will address envelopes for all letters except those to the Forester, to a District Forester, or to a Forest Supervisor (see Mailing) before submitting the letters for initialing or signature. The stenographer will place in the envelope the inclosures to accom- pany letters, except those to the Forester, to a District Forester, or to Forest Supervisors, when they will be securely clipped behind the- letter for signature. MAILING. DISTRICT OFFICES AND WASHINGTON. The messengers will deliver signed letters, with accompanying papers, direct to the mail clerk, who will be responsible for all mailing. The mail clerk will use envelopes bearing the printed address,. “Forest Service, Washington, D. C.,” for all letters to the Forester. Letters to District Foresters will be mailed from Washington in en- velopes printed “Forest Service,” and the address of the District, headquarters. Letters to Forest Supervisors will be put in envelopes printed “ F orest Supervisor,” and the post-office address. These envelopes will be kept open until the end of the official day, when they will be sealed and sent by messenger to the post-office. Other let- ters will be put in the envelopes addressed in the Branches or Offices. As letters are placed in the envelopes by the mail clerk the an- swered letters, with the carbons attached, will be delivered to the file clerk. Mail clerks in District Offices and in Washington will keep an accurate count of all official letters received and mailed by offices,, and will submit at the end of each month a statement embodying this information. Unsigned telegrams will under no circumstances be placed in the messenger’s basket, but will be sent direct by messenger for initialing or signature. The messenger will in every case find the person or persons whose initials or signature is required, if in the building, 24 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. and if out of the building will at once report to the person by whom the telegram was prepared. When signed, the telegram will be delivered to the mail clerk for forwarding. When a telegram is written at or near the close of office hours the person by whom it is prepared will make sure that it is signed and sent before leaving for the day. Registered Mail. — Letters of peculiar importance or of whose re- ceipt a record is essential, and valuable maps and documents, trans- portation requests, and instruments will be registered. The mail clerk will list upon the post-office receipt blank, with one carbon copy, each piece of matter sent to the post-office for registration. The messenger to whom the matter for registration is intrusted will initial the post-office receipt and the carbon copy. The mail clerk will retain the carbon until the post-office receipt is re- turned by the messenger. The carbon will then be destroyed and the signed receipt filed by the mail clerk. FILES AND FILING. DISTRICT OFFICES. FILES. Only those records which are specifically intended for use in an Office will be kept there. These include books or cards for daily or periodic entry, and abstracts of data used as a guide in the prepara- tion of correspondence. Correspondence and records filed in District offices will be assembled in a central file room, and will be in the custody of a file clerk and under the supervision of the Chief of Maintenance. Only vertical files will be used. Files will be of the following classes : A general correspondence file, in which will be filed alphabetically, without reference to Forests or subjects, all correspondence which bears the letter z after the key initials, instead of a subject designa- tion (e. g., dz, oz, ooz). Subject files, by Offices, in which will be filed, under subjects, all correspondence which bears a subject designation. The following designations will be entered (see examples) upon correspondence to be filed by subject, and will constitute a guide for filing : D District Forester. — Correspondence originating with the District Forester which deals with a subject for which a designation is prescribed will bear that designation and the key initials of the Office concerned. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 25 L Law. — Correspondence in any transaction will be designated as prescribed for the Office concerned, and the letter X added to the key initials of that Office to show that the correspondence is being handled by Law (e. g., SX). O Operation. — Correspondence dealing specifically with a Forest but not relating o to a designated subject. Pike. Guides: Forests (no folders). OA Accounts: Examples: OA Appointment. OA Disbursement, Pike. OE Engineering: Guides: Appointment. ically. ) Disbursement- THsbursernent- ( Folders, names of members, alphabet- -Forest. Subguides: Forests (no folders). -Ind. (Folders, names of members, alpha- betically.) OE Improvement, Pike, Fiat Rock Station, barn, 1/20/08. OO Organization: Guides: Forests. Guide: Improvement. Subguides: Forests (folders, names of proj- ects, alphabetically). OO Pike, Allotment. OO Pike, Trespass, Jones, J. H. 1/20/08. OO Fire cooperation, C. , M. & St. P. Ry. OE Occupancy: Subguides: Allotment. (No folders. ) Fire. (No folders.) Personnel. (No folders. ) Supervision. (No folders.) Trespass. (Folders, names of tres- passers, alphabetically. ) Guide: Fire Cooperation. (Prevention of fires on rights of way and private holdings contiguous to National Forests; folders, names of cooperators, alphabetically. ) OE Pike, Boundaries — Forest. OE Pike, Claims, Jones, .T. H., Homestead, Garfield. Guides: Forests. Subguides: Boundaries — Forest (no folders). Boundaries — Station ( folders, names of station, alphabetically). Claims [folders, names of claim- ants or mines (alphabetically), class of claim, and land district]. Settlement (folders, names of appli- cants, alphabetically). Uses [folders, names of users (alpha- betically), and class of use]. Subguides: States. (Correspondence and re- ports regarding pro- posed creations, addi- tions, and elimina- tions; folders, names of projects, alphabet- ically. ) S Silviculture. — Correspondence dealing specifically with a Forest but not relating to a designated transaction, s Pike. Guides: Forests (no folders). OE Pike, Uses, Jones, J. H., Hotel, 1/20/08. Guide: Boundaries. OE Boundaries, Montana, - Trumbull Mountains. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 26 ST Timber Sales: ST Pike, Brush disposal. Guides: Forests. ST Pike, Free Use, Jones, J. H.. 1/20/08. ST Pike, Sales, Jones, J. H.. 1/20/08. Subguides: Brush Disposal (no folders). Estimates (no folders). Free Use (folders, names of ap- plicants, alphabetically) . Marking Rules (no folders). Sale Policy (no folders). Sales (folders, names of pur- chasers, alphabetically). Sawmills (folders, names of ap- plicants, alphabetically). Settlement (folders, names of ap- plicants, alphabetically). Trespass (folders, names of tres- passers, al phabeticall y ) . Guide: Cooperation. ST Cooperation, Federal, Indian Office. ST Cooperation, Private, Jones, .T. H. SP Planting: Subguides: Federal (folders, names of coop- erating Departments and Bu- reaus, alphabetically). Stale (folders, names of States, alphabetically). Private (folders, names of coop- erators, alphabetically). Guides: Forests. SP Pike, Nurseries, Pikes Peak. SP Pike, Seed. SS Silvics: Subguides: Nurseries (folders, names of nur- series, alphabetically). Planting (planting of seedlings or seed outside . of nurseries; no folders)'. Seed (collection and distribu- tion of seed; no folders). Guides: Forests. Subguides: Stations (no folders), ss Pike, Stations. SS Pike, Silvics, Studies. Lodgepole pine repro- duction. Guide: Tree Studies (silvical studies of individual species; folders, m o. ^ , names of species, alphabetically). Tree Studies, Douglas ^ fir. Studies ( silvical studies by regions or Forests; folders, titles of studies, alphabetically) . G Grazing: Guides: Forests. G Pike, Allowances. G Pike, Cooperation, Montana. G Pike, permits, C. & H. Jones, J. H., No. 10. Subguides: Allowances (no folders). Cooperation (folders, names of Bureaus, States, and private cooperators, alphabetically) . Permits , Cattle and Horses , Approved (folders, names of permittees, numerically). Permits , Sheep and Goats , Approved (folders, names of permittees, numerically). MANUAL, OP PROCEDURE. 27 G Pike , Permits, S. & G. Jones, J. H., No. 310. Permits, Disapproved applications (folders, names of applicants, alphabetically). G Pike, Permits, Private Land. Jones, J. H. Permits, Use of Private Land (folders, names of applicants, alphabet- ically) . Regulations (explanation, or sug- gestions, for revision; no folders) * G Pike, Trespass, Jones, J. H. Supervision (no folders). Trespass (folders, names of tres- passers, alphabetically). Illegal inclosure, 1/20/08. Uses (pastures, drift fences, stock tanks, etc.; folders, names of applicants, alphabetically). Guide: Studies (range improvement and development; folders, names of projects, alphabetically). P Products : Guides: Manufacture. Subguides: Names of Industries (folders, P Manufacture, Cooper- age, Staves. P Markets, Montana, Butte. names of articles alphabet- ically). Markets. Subguides: State (folders, names of forests and towns, alphabetically). Association (folders, names of asso- ciations, alphabetically). Mensuration. Subguides: Volume, Height, Age, Growth, Form, and Stand. P Mensuration, Volume, Douglas fir, Oregon. Subguides: Names of species (folders, names of states, alpha- betically). Subguides: Reducing Coefficients (no fold- ers). Subguide: Grading Rules. P Mensuration Grading rules, Lumber, Yel- low Pine Mfrs. Assn. P Subguides: Names of materials (fold- ers, names of associa- tions, alphabetically). Preservation- Forest (folders, names of Forests, alphabeti- Preservation -Forest, Pike. cally). Preservation- Cooperative (folders, names of cooperators, P Seasoning, Kiln -dry- ing, Veneer. alphabetically ) . Pulpwoods (folders, names of species, alphabetically). Seasoning. Subguides: Names of methods (folders, names of materials, alphabeti- cally). Specifications (folders, names of materials, alphabetically). Statistics (folders marked “Census,” “Geological Sur- vey,” “Forest Service,” and “Miscella- P Tests, Douglas fir. neous”). Tests (folders, names of species, alphabetically). P Transcont. Rates, N. P. Rv. Transcontinental Rates } /n, n n ( F olders, names of transportation Local Rates 1 companies, alphabetically). Cargo Rates J Use. Subguides: Names of industries (folders, names of articles, al phabetically ) . Wood Distillation (folders, names of species, alphabet- ically), 28 MANUAL OP PROCEDURE. PILING. As correspondence is received for filing, the file clerk will staple the carbon to the answered letter. When the carbon is not accom- panied by an answered letter, its pages will be stapled together as a unit for filing. All correspondence which bears the letter z after the key initials will be filed, with accompanying papers, alphabetically by cor- respondent, in the General File. Correspondence which bears a subject designation will, with ac- companying papers, be filed under it, in the subject files. Correspondence which bears neither the letter z nor a subject desig- nation will be returned, with accompanying papers, to the Office in which it originated, for the proper file designation. When names of correspondents begin with the same letter, filing will be alphabetical by the spelling of the surnames: As Jenkins, Johnson, Jones. When the correspondence from two or more per- sons of the same surname is filed together, it will be filed alphabeti- cally by initials — as A. Jones, H. Jones, W. Jones. If the initials are also the same, the spelling of the first name will be the guide to the filing — as Albert J ones, Alfred J ones, Arthur J ones. Correspon- dence filed under the same name will be filed chronologically, with the most recent letters on top. Correspondence with members of the Forest Service and of other Bureaus and with State officials will be filed under the Office of the correspondent, and not under his name or title. Correspondence with officials of firms, associations, and other private organizations will be filed by the name of the writer when the letter does not relate to the business of the organization. Circular letters will be filed as other correspondence. Cross references will be made only when the name of a corre- spondent is not a part of the designation given to the subject upon which he writes. For example, Jones may write regarding the Smith Timber Sale. In that event, Jones’s letter would be filed under the Smith Timber Sale. A cross reference, consisting of a sheet of yellow paper, bearing the name Jones and the subject designation of the case under which the correspondence from him has been filed, would be filed under Jones in the General File. Transferring. Correspondence in the General File will be transferred, period- ically, with the accompanying alphabetical guide cards, to units of the same size as those of the current file. The entire file from A to Z will be transferred. Correspondence filed under designated subjects, but not under desig- nated transactions, on or off' National Forests will be transferred MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 29 periodically, by subjects, with accompanying guide cards, and new guide cards inserted in the current files. Correspondence in designated transactions will be transferred as the transactions are closed. The Office concerned will notify the file clerk by forwarding the transaction record card stamped “ Closed.” The file clerk will thereupon transfer the transaction folder, giving it a serial number, which will be entered upon the transaction record card and the latter returned to the Office. Whenever an Office has need of the papers in a closed transaction, the transaction record card will be sent to the file clerk, to whom it will serve both as a requisi- tion and as a means of locating the transaction folder in the transfer file. When a transaction folder is thus withdrawn from the transfer file, the record card will be returned with the folder to the Office concerned. Transfer cases for the General File will be labeled with the appro- priate letters of the alphabet and the inclusive dates. Transfer cases for correspondence under designated subjects, but not under designated transactions, on or off the National Forests will be labeled with the appropriate designations and the incluswe dates. Transfer cases for correspondence under designated transactions on or off National Forests will be labeled with the first and last serial numbers of the closed transaction folders transferred. Withdrawals. The file clerk only is authorized to file papers and to withdraw and return them to the files. Upon the request of Offices or Sections the file clerk will deliver specified folders or correspondence, without receipt. In order to maintain the efficiency of the files, it is incumbent upon any Office or Section to return correspondence and papers promptly. WASHINGTON. The procedure prescribed for files and filing in District Offices will be followed in Washington, except that subject files will be main- tained by Districts instead of by Forests, modified from the subject files outlined for District Offices to comprise merely the business handled in Washington under the reorganization. EXAMINATION OF RECORDS BY THE PUBLIC. The papers on file in District and Supervisors’ offices are public records, and the information contained in them should be freely imparted under reasonable safeguards to those whose interest is legitimate. Information on file should not be given to those without legitimate interest in the matter involved. Cases have occurred in which lists of per- 30 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. mits furnished by the Forest Service have been used to solicit business from all the permittees with the intention of subjecting them to wholly unnecessary expense. Under no circumstances may inquirers take papers outside of the build- ing from the files. PROCEDURE BY UNITS IN ORGANIZATION. DISTRICT OFFICES. OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT FORESTER. DUTIES. The general direction of all work of the District Offices, and upon National Forests within the District, and the supervision of work con- ducted in the Office of the District Forester. Annual Estimates. Estimates for allotments or appropriations submitted to the District Forester and by him to the Forester must furnish a practical working basis for the consideration of the proposed expenditures throughout. The estimate for salaries will be by individuals on the basis of present salaries, and the names of those already employed should be entered. Whenever an additional employee is estimated for, it will be so stated. Estimates for expenses must not be in a lump sum, but separately by expenses of individuals, and for permanent improvements, by projects. Proposed contingent funds will not be shown separately, but will be summarized in one contingent for the District. Totals will be by lines of work so far as practicable, summarized by units in organization. The sums required for brush burning and to provide for handling additional sales and for forest planting will be estimated for in as much detail as practicable, and when approved will constitute definite allotments instead of contingents. For convenience these allotments will be made to Organization, subject to reallotment to Forest Supervisors at the request of Silviculture. Allotment Estimates. Estimates for allotments for the next ensuing fiscal year will be submitted on April 1 by District Offices to the District Forester. The District Forester will submit to the Forester on May 1 allotment estimates for the District. The Forester will then make an allot- ment to the District from each appropriation, the allotment for salaries and general expenses including a specified amount as a Dis- trict Contingent Fund, and a specified amount to be used exclusively for fighting fire. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE . 31 When the District Forester is notified by the Forester of the amounts allotted to the District, he will make allotments to Offices, Sections, and Forests, and send the Forester a statement of the al- lotments made. The District Forester will make no allotments until he is notified that the amount to be allotted is in the United States Treasury, subject to the District Fiscal Agent’s requisition for funds. Similarly, the District Forester will sign no letter of authorization unless it is covered by an allotment made by him, except that he may sign authorizations for cooperation work when the amount to be authorized does not exceed the amount to be contributed. A contingent will be reserved by the Forester to cover expenses for fighting fires exceeding the District Fire Contingent and other large and unforeseen expenditures for which allotted funds are not available. Appkopriation Estimates. Estimates for appropriations for the fiscal year following the next ensuing fiscal year will be submitted on April 1 by the District Offices to the District Forester. The District Forester will submit on May 1 appropriation estimates for the District to the Forester. As soon as practicable thereafter the District Forester will be notified of the action taken. Promotions. Promotions will be considered only once a year, and all promotions for the year will be made on July 1, instead of on January 1, as specified in Regulation 1, XT. B., page 31. The District Forester will submit to the Forester on May 1 his recommendations for promotions for the year. For each promotion recommended the reasons will be stated, and the present salary, salary recommended, and the date and amount of the last promotion, if any, will be given. The increase in allotments above District estimates, rendered necessary by the annual promo- tions, will be made by the Forester. LAW. DUTIES. Advice to District officers and to Supervisors; approval of legal documents and correspondence; assistance to chiefs of Field Division and Special Agents of the General Land Office, upon request, in claims contests; and recommendation of court proceedings and as- sistance to United States Attorneys, upon request. ROUTINE. Advice. Letters answering legal questions will be approved by the District Law Officer after preparation under his advice by the Office con- cerned. If the question is new, and of importance as a precedent, 32 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. an iridex card will be prepared giving the subject; the subject num- ber according to the Century Digest Classification Scheme; the key initials of the Office or Section concerned; and the date of inquiry and of the answer. In answering a question the District Law Officer will sign a formal memorandum, with three carbons, one for his sub- ject file, the second for that of the Office concerned, and the third for the Forester. The original will be sent to the inquirer by the Office concerned. Memoranda should be brief, clear, untechnical, and exact in the citation of authorities. They should bear the subject designation and number, and if necessarily long, a prefixed summary in the form of a syllabus. Summaries will be made, given subject designations and numbers, and filed, of briefs, pamphlets, and memoranda of permanent value. Approval of Legal Documents and Correspondence. Agreements, bonds, contracts, permits, stipulations, and other legal documents incident to the business of any Office will be drafted in that Office, following the forms prescribed in the Legal F orm Book. The form of all timber sale contracts for more than $5,000, bonds for more than $1,000, and right of way permits and stipulations .except those for telephone lines, wagon roads, and noncommercial irrigation plants will be approved by the initial of the District Law Officer. Any deviation from any prescribed form will be indicated specific- ally to the District Law Officer, and approved by his initial in the left margin opposite the clause concerned. The execution of all timber sale contracts for more than $5,000, bonds for more than $1,000, right of way permits and stipulations, with the exceptions above mentioned, and of all documents executed b}^ a private or municipal corporation, association, or partnership will be initialed by the District Law Officer in the right margin oppo- site the space for signature. New forms proposed for legal documents, in whole or in part, after approval by the District Law Officer, will be submitted to the Forester for inclusion in the Legal Form Book. Claims Contests. When hearing is ordered, Occupancy having noted on the claims index card the fact and date of litigation, changed the case designa- tion by inserting X after the key initial, and given written notice to the File Clerk to note on the folder that the case is in litigation with the date, the notice will be sent to Law. An index card will then be filled out (blue for mining claims and white for all other MANUAL OF PKOCEDTJKE. 33 claims) giving the case designation with the letter X inserted, dates when litigation begins and ends, its nature, the original and appellate tribunals, the date of appeals, orders, etc. When litigation ceases, Law will notify the file clerk to enter the date on the folder and transmit the notice to Occupancy for further action. The letter X will be inserted in the case designation on all papers in a litigated case, as notice to the mail clerk for reference of correspondence. Court Cases. All letters forecasting legal proceedings will be initialed by the District Law Officer. When suit is recommended or begun, or arrest made, the routine will be as prescribed for Claims Contests, except that a buff index card will be used. Briefs and arguments in litigated cases will not be embodied in letters, but will be prepared, transmitted, and filed as prescribed for memoranda under “ Advice.” Recommendations of suit to the Attorney-General will be prepared for the signature of the Secretary of Agriculture. Correspondence with the Commissioner of the General Land Office will be signed by the District Forester. Other legal correspondence will be signed by the District Law Officer. Collection of State Forest Laws. Law will maintain, chronologically, in temporary binders under States, a file of forest laws, and of other laws affecting National For- ests enacted by the States within the District. At the close of each fiscal year the collection will be reviewed and completed, annotated after the manner of Bulletin No. 57, the year’s legislation sum- marized in the style of the Review of Legislation in the New York State “ Library Year Book of Legislation ” for 1905 and 190G, and the whole transmitted not later than September 1 to the Forester for publication. Miscellaneous Projects and Index Cards. Definite tasks imposed upon Law and not included in the above classification will be recorded on cards in the manner prescribed under “Advice.” The card will bear as a subject designation the word- “ Miscellaneous,” followed by other necessary description and the date upon which the task was undertaken and completed. Index cards for Advice, Litigation (contested claims and court cases), and Miscellaneous Subjects will be filed separately. Cards for open cases will be filed alphabetically throughout, by name, without regard to Forest. As cases are closed the cards will be filed alphabetically by names under Forests, behind a guide card marked “ Closed in current month.” At the end of the month, after being used for the monthly report, they will be filed in like order as closed cards. 61048—08 8 34 MANUAL OF PEOCEDUEE. OPERATION. DUTIES. The protection of the National Forests, the organization, mainte- nance, and field and office equipment of their personnel, and the supervision of all permanent improvement work. Recommendation to the Forester regarding changes in the area of existing Forests and the creation of new Forests; determination of the advisability of proposed administrative sites and recommendation to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for withdrawal of sites from entry; report and recommendation to the Commissioner of the General Land Office on claims cases; and recommendation to the Commissioner for listing homestead applications. The supervision of special use business. The supervision of the District Fiscal Agent, who will make and record disbursements and record receipts, will control the accounting methods of Special Fiscal Agents and Supervisors, and will keep the accounts of the District. The maintenance of the files and other equipment in the District Office, and the supplying of assistance in drafting, stenography, and typewriting. ROUTINE. Organization. ALLOTMENTS TO FORESTS. Annually on April 1 a schedule of proposed allotments to Forests for salaries and general expenses for the ensuing fiscal year, based on Supervisors’ estimates, will be submitted to the District Forester. This schedule will show tabularly by Forests the salary and general expense allotments separately for the current year, and the Super- visors’ estimates and the recommendation of Operation for the ensu- ing year. When the total allotment for salaries and general expenses on For- ests has been made by the District Forester, proposed allotments will be revised accordingly, and after they are approved by the District Forester, Accounts will be notified on Form 659 of the allotments made. At the same time, letters will be prepared for the signature of the District Forester, notifying each Supervisor of the amount allotted his Forest for salaries and general expenses, and of the number, grade, salary, and period of service, of each man to be employed under appointment, and of what portion of the amount allotted for general expenses should be spent for forest planting. Accounts will then be notified on Forms 659, initialed by the Chief of Operation, to prepare for the signature of the District Forester a letter of authorization to each Supervisor for the amount allotted him for general expenses. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 85 As monthly allotment and liability statements by Forests are re- ceived from Accounts they will be scrutinized to determine whether readjustment of salary or expense allotments is necessary. The need for this scrutiny increases with the advance of the fiscal year. PERSONNEL. Action necessary to the appointment, promotion, demotion, resigna- tion, furlough, suspension, dismissal, transfer, or separation of officers on National Forests will be initiated in Organization, on Form 659, and initialed by the Chief of Operation. In case of dismissal a copy of the charges and the reply will accompany Form 659. All letters to officers on National Forests notifying them that action in any of the above classes has been recommended, which are disciplinary in character, will be signed by the District Forester. Form 659 embodying proposed action affecting the grade, assign- ment, or salary of any officer on a National Forest above the rank of Guard, before it is forwarded to Accounts, will be sent to the Chiefs of Silviculture, Grazing, and Products, for initial if they concur. If they fail to concur, action will be determined by the District Forester. Since a card record of District personnel is available for reference in Accounts, no card record of the National Forest personnel will be maintained in Organization. ELIGIBLE LIST. As State lists of eligibles for appointment as Assistant Forest Ranger are received from Washington, a card will be filled out with the name and address of each eligible and the cards filed alphabetic- ally by names, under States. Copies of each State list will be sent to all Supervisors within that State and within the District, from which appointments will be recommended. When Form 659, requesting an appointment, is prepared, “Appointed,” and the name of the Forest will be stamped upon the corresponding card, which will be filed alphabetically by the State, behind a guide card marked “Appointed.” When an appointment is requested from an eligible list for a State which falls within more than one District, a carbon of Form 659 will be sent to the District Forester who has jurisdiction within the same State, who will make the necessary record in his card list of eligibles. As frequently as rendered necessary by the number of appointments made, revised State lists will be sent to Supervisors. SUPERVISORS’ personnel reports. The annual personnel reports (TJ. B., p. 190) will be submitted on April 1, instead of November 15 as heretofore, and will be used as a basis for recommendations to the District Forester of promotions of officers on National Forests. 36 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. MEETINGS OF FOREST OFFICERS. With the exception of meetings of his own force called by a Supervisor (IT. B., p. 29), meetings for the instruction of officers assigned to National Forests require the approval of the District Forester. Plans for these meetings will be prepared by Organization, and submitted to the District Forester. PROTECTION FROM FIRE. Organization will consider and pass upon Supervisors’ recom- mendations for the organization and equipment of their fire patrol, including the distribution of the permanent force and the employ- ment of additional men during the fire season. It will also handle requests from Supervisors for allotments and authorizations for fire fighting, against the Fire Contingent Fund. It will submit for the approval of the District Forester, plans for Federal, State, and private cooperation in fire protection involving the force on National Forests. Reports of fire trespass and negotiations preliminary to settlement will be handled in Organization. When timber or forage has been damaged, the assessment will be passed upon by Silviculture or Graz- ing. If just settlement can not be secured all papers in the case will be referred to the District Law Officer, with a memorandum of the action recommended. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES FOR FORESTS. Forest Supervisors will continue to obtain equipment and supplies by requisition direct from the Property Clerk at Ogden. When the Property Clerk asks any District Forester for further information before filling a Supervisor’s requisition, Organization will conduct the necessary correspondence with the Supervisor concerned, and prepare a letter to the Property Clerk, for the signature of the District Forester. Certificates to the condemnation or loss of property upon National Forests will be initialed by Organization. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADVERTISING. On May 1 of each year, Supervisors will recommend a list of news- papers for advertisements of Forest business during the next fiscal year. When approved, the lists will be sent to Accounts, so that the neces- sary letters of authorization may be secured, and copies forwarded to Supervisors. Engineering. COMPLETE PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENTS. Supervisors will submit in duplicate to the District Forester not later than March 1, 1909, complete plans so far as practicable, covering all needed improvement work of every class on their Forests. These should MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 37 give not merely the improvement work proposed for one year, or for a series of years, hut entirely apart from the question of the time required to complete them, should show what, in the judgment of the Supervisor, would be, under present conditions, an adequate system of trails, roads, telephone lines, and other improvements, for the effective protection of his Forest, and for the full development of its usefulness. The plan should enumerate by classes the projects proposed, and should include under each project a tentative estimate of its cost and a brief statement of the need for it. Both completed and proposed projects should be shown on dupli- cate sets of the best maps available. Completed projects will be shown in ink of a different color from that used for proposed projects. Annually, on March 1, Supervisors will submit in duplicate a revision of the complete plan submitted the previous year. ESTIMATES FOR IMPROVEMENTS. Annually, on March 1, Supervisors will submit, with the complete plan above described, a detailed estimate for those projects shown on the com- plete plan, which are of such urgency that they should be undertaken during the ensuing fiscal year. ALLOTMENTS AND AUTHORIZATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS. Engineering will scrutinize Supervisors’ detailed estimates, from the engineering standpoint, and submit them to the Chief of Opera- tion, as a basis for his recommendation to the District Forester, of the total amount required for permanent improvements in the District for the ensuing fiscal year. When the allotments to Forests for permanent improvements are made by the District Forester, Accounts will be notified on Form 659, and letters for the signature of the District Forester to Supervisors will be prepared, informing them of the allotments to their Forests, and designating the projects approved for construction during the ensuing fiscal year. Ac- counts will then be notified on Form 659, initialed by the Chief of Oper- ation, to prepare a letter of authorization to each Supervisor for the amount of the allotment to his Forest for permanent improvement work. Engineering will then conduct correspondence with Supervisors in- volving instructions as to materials and methods of work. RECORD OF PROJECTS. A card record of approved projects will be kept under Forests, one card being filled out with the designation of each project. These cards will be used as an index to the subject files, and in checking ex- penditures for improvements summarized by Supervisors on Form 99. SUPERVISORS’ REPORTS. Forms 283, received monthly from Supervisors, will be used by Engineering to check the progress of improvement work, and will be filed behind the corresponding card in the Record of Projects. As 38 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. final reports upon completed projects are received, the corresponding card in the Record of Projects will be stamped “ Closed,” with the date, and put behind a guide card marked “ Closed,” in the same file. At the end of the fiscal year Supervisors will close in their project ledgers all accounts with uncompleted projects, and will report them in the manner prescribed for final reports upon completed projects. Work upon an uncompleted project continued in another fiscal year from that in which it was begun requires the opening of a new account in the project ledger, under a new allotment and authorization. VOUCHERS FOR IMPROVEMENT WORK. Before vouchers for improvement work are certified by the Chief of Operation, they will be initialed by Engineering to show approval of the expenditures for labor and material, and that the work has been authorized. DISTRICT ATLAS. In addition to the data received from Supervisors and from Wash- ington, information gathered by the District Office and a record of the business transacted by it wdll be posted in the District Atlas. This data, which will be furnished to the District Engineer upon his requisition, will include the following: Grazing will furnish proclamation maps on which are shown the classification of each Forest for the handling of grazing, according to the Forest Atlas Legend. Operation will furnish the location of all permanent improvements constructed, administrative withdrawals, listed Forest homesteads, fire statistics, and all approved special uses which can be shown by the conventional signs of the Forest Atlas Legend. Silviculture will, furnish data relating to timber sales and free use, the location of plantations and nurseries, and the general classification of land with its stand of commercial timber, according to the Forest Atlas Legend. The status of land, received from local Land Offices and in the monthly report of entries of the General Land Office, will also be posted in the District Atlas. At the end of each quarter, or more frequently when justified by the importance of new recorded data, or when so instructed by the Forester, duplicate atlas sheets, showing corrections and additions posted, will be forwarded to Washington for posting, and to serve as a basis for new editions. ALIENATION. In order to obtain the status of a given tract, the District AtlaS will first be consulted by the Office requiring the information. The District Atlas does not show changes occurring after the publication MANUAL OF PEOCEDUEE. 39 of the folio, and before January 1, 1909, or since the posting of the last monthly report from the General Land Office. If the District Atlas shows the tract to be vacant land, or that title has passed from the United States, no further search is ordinarily necessary. If the tract is covered by an unperfected entry, or a withdrawal inconsistent with its reservation for forest purposes, or if other doubt exists, the necessary information must be obtained from the local Land Office. In such cases, Engineering will prepare, upon requisition from the Office requiring the information, a letter (Form 31) for the signature of the District Forester to the Register and Receiver, requesting the status of the tract in question. Replies from local Land Offices will be referred by the mail clerk to Engineering, which, after posting the information in the District Atlas, will refer the replies to the Offices concerned. DRAFTING AND BLUEPRINTING. Engineering will fill requisitions approved by the District Engi- neer for drafting of the various classes and for blueprinting. All maps and other graphic records which do not constitute essen- tial parts of the papers in any case will be filed in Engineering. Occupancy. All index cards in closed cases will follow the routine prescribed under Law, p. 33. BOUNDARIES. The District Office will investigate the advisability of boundary projects either upon its own initiative or under instructions from Washington. These studies will follow plans approved by the Dis: trict Forester and be made in accordance with the “ Instructions to Boundary Men ” of June 24, 1907. The recommendation of a District Forester upon a proposed crea- tion, addition to, or elimination from a Forest, will be accompanied by the original report, type and title maps, petitions or other neces- sary papers, a draft of proclamation (without diagram), and a letter for the signature of the F orester, transmitting the proclamation to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. If the project was proposed by a person not in the Forest Service, a letter for the signa- ture of the Forester to the person concerned, presenting the decision of the Forester and the conclusion upon which it was based, will accompany the District Forester’s recommendation. The proclamation will be prepared with four copies. One will be filed and the original with three copies sent to Washington, one for the Forester’s files, one for the General Land Office, and one for trans- mission by the General Land Office to the State Department with the original. 40 MANUAL OP PROCEDURE. The District Forester’s recommendation upon a proposed temporary withdrawal or release will be accompanied only by a title map, a description of the area to be withdrawn or released. The District Office will be notified of final action upon any project and will take whatever action is necessary to establish the new bound- ary, assuming control of the area added or relinquishing control of the area eliminated. Boundary projects will be recorded on cards filed by Forests, on which will be entered the name of the Forest and project, date of withdrawal, date of examination, name of examiner, character of petitions with date of receipt, date of approval by District Forester, date of forwarding maps and reports to Forester, character and date of Forester’s action, and date of proclamation. RANGER STATIONS. If a proposed ranger station conflicts with an nnperfected claim, the Supervisor’s report will include the price for which the improvements can be purchased. His report will, in all cases, include a formal reeommeda- tion on Form 271, with 220 if the land is surveyed. Upon receipt of the Supervisor’s report, an index card and folder will be made, each to be filed alphabetically by name of the site under the Forest, The index card will contain the name of the Forest, the name of the site, date Supervisor’s report received, date withdrawal requested, and date withdrawn. If the District Forester’s decision upon the Supervisor’s recommendation of a proposed ranger station is unfavorable, the Supervisor will be so noti- fied and the case closed. If the decision is favorable and if the proposed site conflicts with an unperfected claim, Occupancy will, if the status is otherwise clear, send all papers to Organization, which will, in cooperation with Engi- neering, consider the purchase of the improvements, and the price to be paid for them, and return the papers to Occupancy. If the purchase is disapproved, the Supervisor will be notified and the case closed. If the purchase is approved, the Supervisor’s letter of authorization will be increased accordingly. The Supervisor will then be instructed to secure from the claimant and forward a relinquishment and a Form A voucher, giving the location of the claim and the price of each improvement. When these are received, Occupancy will request the withdrawal by a letter, accompanied by a blueprint of the proposed site, to the Com- missioner of the General Land Office for the signature of the District F orester. When notice of withdrawal is received from the Forester, Occu- pancy will send to Engineering a Form A voucher for initial, which will then be signed by the Chief of Operation and sent to Accounts for payment. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 41 No patented land will be purchased in any State, Territory, or District for ranger stations or other purposes without special authority from the Forester. CLAIMS. Requests for report on claims referred from Washington will be recorded and referred to the Supervisor by stamp. Upon receipt of reports from the Supervisor and from such experts as have examined a claim, the District Forester will prepare a letter of recommendation on Form 308 or 147 and send it to the Commis- sioner of the General Land Office. Copies of the reports will accom- pany adverse letters of recommendation only. If the Commissioner of the General Land Office does not concur with the recommendation, the case will be handled by the Law Officer in Washington. When the District Forester receives notice of hearing, the case will be transferred to the District Law Officer during litigation. If the decision of the local Land Office is brought before the Commis- sioner of the General Land Office by proceedings in the nature of an appeal, the case will be handled by the Law Officer in Washington. Notices of the final action of the Department of the Interior on any claim will be forwarded from Washington to the District Office for filing with other papers in the case. The record of the case will be made on plain cards, using blue for mining claims and white for all other claims. The card, which will be filed alphabetically by the name in the case designation, should also contain the name of the Forest, also the date of the Land Office request, receipt of reports, the District Forester’s recommendation, the notice of hearing, the decision of local Land Office, appeals, and closing of the case. SETTLEMENT. Application for Forest homesteads will be addressed to the District For- ester, to whom will be referred applications made in error to the Forester or to a Supervisor. Applications whose descriptions of the land are too incomplete for record, or which apply for over 160 acres, or for two noncontiguous tracts, will be returned for correction, unless the application shows a settler’s preference right under the Forest Homestead Act. All other applications will be stamped with the date of receipt and recorded in the District office tract book in the order of their receipt as shown by the post-office cancellation stamp. The envelope in which the application is received and previous correspondence will be attached. 42 MANUAL OF PKOCEDURE. An index card and folder will be made for each new application. The index cards will be filed alphabetically by the names of appli- cants, and the folders by Forests in the order of the serial number of the application, if recorded. The index card should also contain the name of the Forest and the serial number of the application. The folders for applications returned without record, as above pro- vided, will be filed alphabetically in front of No. 1, pending correc- tion of errors. Recorded applications embracing surveyed lands, or unsurveyed lands which can be described by the probable section number, will be examined as to status. The status data of the District office, includ- ing copies of any maps, will be supplemented when necessary by information from the local land office. If the status examination shows that the tract is not vacant public land, or that an unsurveyed tract will probably be shown by survey to be land granted in prcesenti to a railroad or other grkntee, the application will be canceled and the applicant so notified. If the status examination shows that an unsurveyed tract is within the place limits of any railroad or other grant in prcesenti , but will probably be shown by survey to be vacant public land, the applicant will be notified that any subsequent action upon his application will be subject to defeat by the survey if the tract turns out to be land included in the grant. If the tract book shows that the land has been examined and un- favorably reported upon, the application will be rejected unless known changes in local conditions justify reexamination. The District office will acknowledge applications, and in case of partial conflict will so inform the applicant by footnote. Township plat Form 974 will be sent to the Supervisor filled out to show the tract applied for, if surveyed, or the description of it, if unsurveyed; the name and number of the applicant; date of settle- ment, if given ; and the date of receipt of application. After the Supervisor has submitted a report on Form 110, the Dis- trict Forester will, if the report shows the tract applied for is not chiefly of value for agriculture, or is needed for public purposes, re- ject the application and so inform the applicant in order that he may apply for another tract. If the Supervisor’s report is favorable and describes the lands to be listed by metes and bounds, the original field notes, three copies of which will be submitted, be checked as to sufficiency of survey, and a tracing made with four blueprints. Descriptions of legal subdi- visions will be checked as to accuracy, but no tracing made. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 43 If only a portion of the land applied for should be listed, the Dis- trict Forester will inform the applicant and furnish him with a description of the area approved for listing. In order that the appli- cant’s case may be closed without delay, a letter for his signature will be inclosed so that he may indicate his intention to make entry of the area recommended when listed, or withdraw his application. When the applicant is informed that a part of the tract applied for will be listed if he so desires, a reminder card will be filed calling the case up for action at the end of sixty days. At the expiration of this period, if no reply has been received, the applicant will be informed that in the absence of a reply within thirty days his application will be canceled. As a result of the foregoing action, the application is withdrawn or canceled, or the applicant requests that the area recommended be listed. Letters to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the signature of the District Forester, recommending the opening of tracts to entry and noting all conflicting applications for each tract, will be prepared with three carbons, and will transmit the blueprints and field notes, which will be distributed as follows: One copy of each will accompany the letter to the Commissioner; two copies of each will be sent to the Supervisor with two copies of the letter to the Commissioner ; one copy of the blueprint will be sent to the appli- cant. The original field notes and a tracing, after reference to the District Atlas, will be filed in the applicant’s folder. When the District Forester is notified by the Commissioner of the General Land Office through the Forester that a tract has been opened to entry, he will so notify the applicant. Each District will begin a new series for numbering the lists, com- mencing with 1, and will use the number of the District as a key number. Thus, lists prepared by the District Forester for District No. 6 will be numbered 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, etc. Instructions contained in the circular “ Method of Recording and Filing Applications under the Act of June 11, 1906,” will be followed. SPECIAL USES. If periodic payments are necessary, permits will require that they be made on the first or fifteenth day of the month. Supervisors’ Permits.-— The original copy of the permit forwarded by the Supervisor will be scrutinized. If unsatisfactory, necessary instruc- tions will be given him to correct or cancel the permit. 44 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. District Foresters’ Permits, Class “ b ” and “ c” — Applications made in error to the District office will be referred to the Supervisor concerned- After the necessary information is obtained from the Supervisor, the District office will make final decision, issuing the permit if action be favorable, and notifying the applicant through the Supervisor in either case. Foresters’ Permits, Class “ a ” and “ d.” — Applications made in error to the District office will be referred to the Supervisor concerned. The Supervisor will send his recommendations to the District Forester, ac- companied by other reports and papers pertaining thereto. In Class “ a ” cases these will include the map and field notes, original and tripli- cate copies of the Supervisor’s report (Forms 984 and 578), and the Dis- trict Engineer’s report. The District Forester will then prepare his recommendations and submit them with all other papers in the case to the Forester, retain- ing on file a blueprint of the map. Upon receipt of a Class “ a ” permit prepared in Washington (which will be accompanied by an extra copy for the District office file), it will be transmitted to the Supervisor for execution by the permittee and returned, through the District office, to the Forester (see U. B., p. 57), who will approve the permit and transmit it through the District office to the Supervisor for delivery to the permittee. Class “ d ” permits will be received and transmitted to the Supervisor for delivery to the permittee in the first instance. Interior Department Bights of Way other than Bailroads. — The Dis- trict office will, upon receipt by reference from Washington of two blueprints of the map filed in the Department of the Interior, refer one copy to the Supervisor concerned for report on Forms 964 and 578. Upon receipt of the Supervisor’s report, the District office will prepare a stipulation with four copies. The original and three copies will be sent to the Supervisor, the original for execution by the applicant and return to the District office, one copy for the applicant, one for the ranger, and the third for the Supervisor’s files. The fourth copy will be filed in the District office. The District Forester will, upon receiving the executed stipulation from the Supervisor, recommend approval of the application to the Com- missioner of the General Land Office. Interior Department Bights of Way, Bailroads. — The District office will, upon receipt by reference from Washington of the Commissioner’s request for report with two blueprints of the map filed in the Bepart- wev t of the Interior, refer one blueprint to the Supervisor concerned for report on Forms 984 and 578. Upon receipt of the Supervisor’s report the District office will prepare recommendations and submit them with the Supervisor’s report to Wash- ington, retaining the blueprint in the files of the District office. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 45 Upon receipt of stipulation prepared in Washington, accompanied by- copies for the District office file, the applicant, the Supervisor, and the ranger concerned, it will be sent to the Supervisor for execution by the applicant and return through the District office to the Forester. Record and filing. — An index card will be prepared for each case, and a calendar card (Form 340) for those in which a charge is made. The index card will contain the name of the Forest, but will be filed by name of applicant. Upon it will also be entered the date the application is received, the issue of permit or rejection of appli- cation with dates, and the date upon which periodic payments, if any, are due and the date and amount of each payment with the number of the Notification of Receipt. For Class “ a ” and “ d ” per- mits, a duplicate of the index card will be retained in the District office and the original sent to Washington with the District Forester’s recommendations. Since all payments fall due on the 1st or 15th, Form 340 will be filed under semimonthly guide cards in the order in which payments are due. The permittee will be notified one month before payment is due on Form 362, accompanied by Form 861. If payment is not received, the second notice will be sent fifteen days after payment is due, giving notice that the permit will be canceled if payment is not received within fifteen days. These notices will be sent to the Supervisor for transmittal to the permittee. This procedure for collections will be followed by the District Office for Super- visors’, District Foresters’, and Forester’s permits. Notifications of Receipt will be handled as prescribed for timber sales (see “ Class A and unadvertised Class B sales”). Accounts. ALLOTMENT LEDGER. The District Fiscal Agent will keep separately on sheets (Form 14) an account with each allotment to the District made by the Forester. The sources and classes of entries will be as follows : CREDIT. In allotment column. (From Forester’s letters of allotment.) The amount originally allotted the District from the given appropria- tion, and subsequent changes. De- creases will be entered in red ink. DEBIT. In suballotment column. (From District Forester’s letters of allotment.) The amounts, including contingent funds, originally allotted to Offices, Sections, and Forests, and subsequent changes. Decreases will hp pntprpfl in rprl inlr 46 MANUAL OF PEOCEDUEE. In disbursement column. Monthly (from District Fiscal Agent’s abstracts of disbursements), the total of the month’s disbursements under each District allotment. Monthly (from Special Disbursing Agents’ abstracts of disbursements), | the total of their disbursements under District allotment. Currently (from Treasury settlement notices), the amounts disbursed by the Treasury in settlement of claims forwarded by the District Fiscal Agent. (See p. 48.) In deposit column. Currently (from District Fiscal Agent’s and Special Disbursing Agents’ requisitions for funds), the amounts on approved requisitions. These entries will be checked against the certificates of deposit as received. Currently (from Treasury settlement notices), the amounts disbursed by the Treasury in settlement of claims forwarded by the District Fiscal Agent. (See p. 48.) For any account in the Allotment Ledger, the difference between the net District Allotment and the total disbursements is always the amount to the credit of the District. The difference between the net District Allotment and the total of all certificates of deposit and of the Treasury Settlement of Claims is always the amount which may still be drawn from the Treasury. The difference between the total certificates of deposit and the total disbursements is always the total amount to the credit of the District Fiscal Agent and of the Special Disbursing Agents immediately available for disbursement. The District allotment and suballotment columns of each account in the Allotment Ledger should always balance, since the District Forester will immediately suballot the money allotted to his District by the Forester. DISBURSEMENT LEDGER. The District Fiscal Agent will keep separately on sheets (Form 15) for each Special Disbursing Agent in his District an account of de- posits to his credit and of his disbursements. The District Fiscal Agent will also use this form for an account under each District allotment of the deposits to his own credit, and of his disbursements. The sources and classes of the entries will be as follows : dp:bit. (From requisitions passed by the District Fiscal Agent in favor of Special Disbursing Agents.) Tbe total of each requisition without re- gard to appropriation. CREDIT. (From Special Disbursing Agents’ monthly Abstract of Disburse- ments.) The total of their dis- bursements. Entries to the accounts of the District Fiscal Agent in the Dis- bursement Ledger will be made daily, as follows, from the Cashbook summary sheet (Form 18) : DEBIT. CREDIT. The amount deposited to the credit Total disbursement under each Dis- of the District Fiscal Agent under trict allotment, each District allotment. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 47 The date and amount of each Special Disbursing Agent’s bond will be ehtered at the head of his account. The balance in each account in the Disbursement Ledger will show, subject to deductions for vouchers paid but not credited, the amounts in the hands of each Special Disbursing Agent, and by each appro- priation, the amount in the hands of the District Fiscal Agent. A trial balance of all accounts will show, subject to deduction for vouchers already paid but not credited, the total sum available for disbursement in the District. CASHBOOK. The District Fiscal Agent will enter on sheet (Form 18) each deposit made to his credit in the subtreasury. All checks will be typewritten, using both sides of sheets (Form 16) for carbon copies. Daily all checks against each appropriation will be entered con- secutively, and the total of all checks against each appropriation, with its title, will be entered in the last two columns on Form 16. Daily the total by appropriation of checks drawn must balance with the total of all checks drawn and of all vouchers paid, before the checks are mailed. The difference between the total deposits and the total disburse- ments shown on Form 18 will be entered daily as the balance. DUPLICATE CHECKS. For issuing duplicate checks, see Treasury Circular No. 47 of June 25, 1908. Duplicate checks issued will not reduce the Cashbook balance, will not be included in the day’s summary of disbursements, and will be recorded only by notation on the carbon of the original check. VERIFICATION OF DEPOSITORY BALANCE. The District Fiscal Agent will receive monthly from the Assistant Treasurer a statement of all checks paid since the last report and of the balance to his credit. This will be compared with the carbon copies of checks (Form 16), and those listed will be stamped “ Paid.” The unpaid checks to and including the date of the statement will be entered on sheets /Form 29) and the total subtracted from the balance stated by the Assistant Treasurer, and the result compared with the total balance from all appropriations shown to the credit of the District Fiscal Agent on Cashbook sheet (Form 18). The District Fiscal Agent will then sign and return the form letter which accompanied the Assistant Treasurer’s statement. 48 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. TREASURY SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS. The District Fiscal Agent will send to the Forester, for transmis- sion to the Auditor for the State and other Departments, all claims which under the regulations must be settled by the Treasury. He will number and record in sequence on Treasury settlement sheets (Form IT) all claims forwarded for settlement, placing the appro- priate initial (“P,” Portland; “ S,” San Francisco; “ O,” Ogden; “ M,” Missoula ; “ D,” Denver, and “A,” Albuquerque) before the claim number. The District Fiscal Agent will receive through the Forester notices of the settlement of claims by the Treasury, which he will enter on Form IT, and post to the proper accounts in the Allotment Ledger and on the Allotment and Liability cards (Form 21). DAILY DISBURSING BALANCE. A daily statement of disbursing balance (Form 543) will be rendered to the Chief of Operation. ALLOTMENT AND LIABILITY RECORD. A record of all allotments for salaries, expenses, improvements, and cooperation, and of all liabilities and disbursements thereunder, will be kept on Forms 19, 20, and 21. The District Forester’s allotments to offices and sections for salaries, general expenses, cooperation, and contingent funds, and all changes therein, and to Forests for salaries, general expenses, improvements, and cooperation, and all changes therein, will be entered on allotment cards (Form 21). These entries will be made only from Forms 659, initialed by the District Forester. Allotment cards will be filed under two main guides — one for offices and sections, alphabetically by name of office, and by sections under offices; the other for Forests, alphabetically by name of Forest. ALLOTMENT CARDS FOR OFFICES AND SECTIONS. There will be for each Office and Section a salary allotment card, a general expense allotment card, and, when cooperative work is carried on, a cooperative allotment card. The Salary Allotment Card (Form 21) will show the total salary allotment, current salary payments, total salarjT payments to date, changes in liability, net liability, total disbursements and liability, changes in allotment, and allotment balance. The total of the indi- vidual salary liabilities from individual salary cards will be shown as the total liability of each Office or Section. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 49 The allotment balance will be affected by changes in allotment and by transfers of individuals by the District Forester, and by orders of the Secretary of Agriculture affecting salaries. Net liability will be affected by changes in the salary status and by transfers of individ- uals, and will be reduced by the amount of each salary payment. Entries of salary payments to salary allotment cards will be daily by totals from the individual salary cards (Form 19). Individual Salary Cards (Form 19) will be filed alphabetically behind the Salary Allotment Card of each Office or Section. These will show the salary status of each individual, the monthly salary payments to him, and the total payments for the fiscal year to date. On each card an individual liability will be entered from Form 659, equal to the salary of the individual for the period of his assignment, whether for all or a part of the current fiscal year. Entries from Form 659 will be verified by comparison with orders of the Secretary of Agriculture affecting salary status. Salary payments will be entered from pay-roll and salary vouchers. The individual liability will be decreased by each salary payment and affected by all orders of the Secretary of Agriculture affecting salary status of the individual. The General Expense Allotment Card (Form 21) will show the allotment for general expenses, and changes therein, disbursements (daily totals) against this allotment under individual letters of authorization, changes in liability-, total disbursements and liability, and allotment balance. Allotments and changes affecting them will be entered from Form 659. Letters of authorization and changes affecting them and disbursements will be entered daily by totals from the individual expense cards (Form 20). Individual Expense Cards (Form 20) will be filed alphabetically behind the Allotment card of each office and section for general ex- penses. These will show for each individual the number and form of each letter of authorization and each change affecting it, current and total disbursements, and net liability. Entries relating to letters of authorization will be taken from Form 659 and verified by comparison with letters of authorization. Disbursements will be entered from vouchers. The C ooperation Allotment Cards (Form 21) will show the allot- ments, liabilities, and disbursements for cooperation work. The pro- cedure in making entries will be identical with that provided for entries upon the salary and general expense allotment cards. This allotment record will be supplemented by an individual record of each project under each cooperation allotment card. 61048—08 4 50 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. ALLOTMENT CARDS FOR FORESTS. There will be for each Forest allotment cards for salaries, for . general expenses, for improvements, for fire when fire occurs, and for cooperation when cooperative work is carried on. The Salary Allotment Card (Form 21) will show the total salary allotment, current salary payments, and total salary payments for the fiscal year to date, and the balance of salary allotment. The totals of salary payments will be entered from column A, Form 99, and will include Supervisors’ certification numbers on vouchers. No salary liability will be established. Individual Salary Cards (Form 19) will be filed alphabetically behind the Salary Allotment card of each Forest. These will show the salary status of each individual, the monthly salary payments to him, and the total payments for the fiscal year to date. No individual salary liability will be established. Entries from Form 659 will be verified by comparison with orders of the Secretary of Agriculture affecting salary status. Salary payments will be entered from pay-roll and salary vouchers. When a salary payment is to be charged partly to the Salary Allot- ment and partly to the Improvement Allotment, the amount will be shown separately and the total included on the Individual Card in the total payments to date. The General Expense Allotment Card (Form 21) will show the allotment to the Forest for general expenses and all changes therein, liability under letters of authorization, disbursements against this liability, net liability, total disbursements and liability, and allot- ment balance. Entries will be made from the District Forester’s letters of allot- ment and letters of authorization, and from column B, Form 99, and will include Supervisors’ certification numbers on vouchers. Individual expense cards will not be maintained. The Improvement Allotment Card (Form 21) will show the allot- ment to the Forest for permanent improvements and all changes therein, liability under letters of authorization, disbursements against this liability, net liability, total disbursements and liability, and allotment balance. Entries will be made from Form 659 and from column C, Form 99, and will include Supervisors’ certification numbers on vouchers. No cards for individual improvement projects will be maintained. The Fire Allotment Card (Form 21) will be used when expenses for fire are incurred, and will show the allotments and disbursements only. The District Fiscal Agent, on receipt of approved vouchers for fire expenses, will transfer from the Operation Fire Allotment Card MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 51 to the Forest Fire Allotment Card the amount necessary to cover the vouchers. Disbursements will be entered from the vouchers when the allotment is transferred. The Cooperation Allotment Card (Form 21) will be used for cooperative work in the same manner as prescribed under Offices and Sections (p. 49). TRANSFER OF SALARY CARD. When any member is transferred from one Office, Section, or For- est to another, his individual salary card will be transferred from the file of the unit he leaves to the file of the unit to which he is trans- ferred. In order that the year’s record of expenditures may be com- plete for the unit he leaves, a record of the payments to him will be made in red ink on a card (Form 19), which will be marked “ Sub- stitute Card,” filed behind the current cards, and cross referenced to the file to which the permanent card has been transferred. A sub- stitute card will be used when a member is transferred to another District, and the permanent card will be sent to the District Forester concerned. The Individual Salary Card of a member separated from the Service will be filed with the substitute cards until the end of the fiscal year, when it will be filed alphabetically in a transfer file. VOUCHER AND CERTIFICATION NUMBERS. The voucher numbers will be entered in the second column on Allotment and on Individual Expense cards (Forms 21 and 20), and in the first column on Salary cards (Form 19). The certification numbers entered on vouchers by Forest Supervisors will also be entered in the second column of Forest Allotment cards. PROOF OF ENTRIES. Daily the Allotment cards and Individual Salary and Expense cards on which entries have been made will, after entry, be returned to the files, with paper markers in front to distinguish them from the cards not affected by the day’s entries. After all disbursements have been entered, the entries on the Indi- vidual cards will be totaled and entered on the Allotment cards (Form 21), except in the case of entries on Individual Salary Cards and Salary Allotment cards for Forests. Since the total current salary payments to an officer on a National Forest will be entered on his Individual Salary card, but may be charged partly on the Salary Allotment card and partly on the Im- provement Allotment card of the Forest to which he is assigned, the total salary payments on the Individual Salary cards will exceed the total salary payments charged on the Salary Allotment card by the 52 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. total of salary payments charged on the Improvement Allotment card. Entries on Individual Salary cards for any Forest will be totaled and compared with the total of salary disbursements entered from columns A and C of Form 99 on both the Salary and Improvement Allotment cards. After all disbursements have been entered the entries on the Indi- vidual cards will be totaled and entered on the Allotment cards (Form 21). The day’s entries of disbursements on the Allotment cards will be totaled and the totals compared with the total disbursements for the day as shown by the Cashbook. After the correctness of the day’s entries has been thus verified, the entries on both the Indi- vidual cards and the Allotment cards will be checked and the paper markers removed. Disbursements of each Special Disbursing Agent will be entered in the Allotment and Liability record from the vouchers submitted monthly, and the entries will be proved in the same way as the Dis- trict Fiscal Agent’s daily disbursements by comparing the total amounts entered with the total of the abstract of disbursements which accompanied the vouchers. A trial balance of the Liability Record may be taken on any date from the summary cards, and will show the total disbursements, net liability, and allotment balance for each Office, Section, and Forest, and for the District. The sum of disbursements, net liability, and allotment balance for each Section, Office, Forest, or for the District will show the total allotment for each. MONTHLY LIABILITY AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. A trial balance of the Allotment and Liability Record (Form 159) will be prepared in triplicate, one copy filed and one copy submitted to the District Forester on the 1st of each month and one copy to the Forester. Salaries, general expenses, and improvements will be shown separately for each Office, Section, and Forest. The fact that Form 159 has been prepared will be shown on each summary card by inserting in red ink opposite the figures used the date of the report. Each Chief of Office will be furnished with a copy of that part of the monthly statement concerning his Office, and the Chief of Opera- tion will receive a statement of the expenditures and allotment balances for each Forest. A Financial Statement (Form 279) will be prepared in duplicate on the 1st of each month. One copy will be submitted to the District Forester and one copy to the Forester. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 53 APPOINTMENT RECORDS. Form 659 will be used as a memorandum for the District Fiscal Agent of all desired changes affecting salary status and will serve as the basis for the preparation, with two carbons, of letters for the signature of the Forester to the Secretary of Agriculture (Forms 211 A to 211 M, or special letters), recommending the action desired. The original and one carbon will be forwarded to the Forester. The second copy will be filed alphabetically in Accounts in a waiting file until the desired action has been taken. Copies received of letters changed in Washington will be substituted for copies in the waiting file. As orders of the Secretary of Agriculture affecting salary status are received they will be compared with the entries already made on salary cards and the date of appointment and other supplementary facts entered on the salary cards. Cards (Form 272), filed alphabetically, will be used instead of In- dividual Salary cards for record of temporary laborers. From them a monthly report on the departmental form will be prepared in tripli- cate with copying ribbon, one copy submitted to the District F orester, and the original and one copy submitted to the Forester. Forms 19 and 272 will constitute the record of the District personnel. PERSONNEL INDEX. Since Salary cards (Form 19) will be filed by offices, sections, and Forests, an alphabetical index of the District personnel will be kept on cards (Form 23). All changes in assignment will be entered on index cards (Form 23) from Form 659. RECORD OF ABSENCES. Absences from duty will be entered on Form 24 from Form 143 for all members whose salaries are paid under Forest allotments, from Form 785 for all members whose salaries are paid under Office or Sec- tion allotments, and from furloughs by the Secretary of Agriculture for all members of the District personnel. REQUISITIONS FOR FUNDS. The District Fiscal Agent will make his requisitions for funds in duplicate on Form 612, and will forward the original to the Forester, retaining the copy in a waiting file until he receives a certificate of deposit from the subtreasury. A requisition for funds (Form 284) from a Special Disbursing Agent will be entered in the Allotment and Disbursement Ledgers, initialed in the lower left-hand corner, and forwarded to the Forester, provided it does not exceed the difference between the amount of the Special Disbursing Agent’s bond and his balance on hand, nor his allotment balance as Supervisor. 54 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. TREASURY NOTIFICATION OF WARRANT ISSUED. When the District Fiscal Agent receives notification of a warrant issued in his favor, he will compare and file it with the copy of his requisition for funds. On receipt of a notification of a warrant issued in favor of a Special Disbursing Agent, it will be compared with the amount charged under the corresponding requisition in the Disbursement and Allotment Ledgers, and the notification forwarded to the Special Disbursing Agent. CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT. The District Fiscal Agent, on receiving from the subtreasury a certificate of deposit to his credit, will verify it with the correspond- ing requisition and warrant, and make the necessary entries in his Cashbook (Form 18), and in the Allotment and Disbursement Ledgers (Forms 14 and 15). HANDLING OF VOUCHERS FOR DISBURSEMENT. As vouchers are received, each will be dated, given a receipt number, and recorded on cards (Form 260). Audit. — Every voucher will be examined for compliance with the Fiscal Regulations of the Department of Agriculture, and the De- cisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury. All salary and purchase vouchers to which certification has not been made that the articles have been received in good condition or the services have been rendered, will be returned. When properly certified, vouchers will be audited against the Allotment and Liability cards to determine whether the expenditure is authorized, and cov- ered by the balance available. Every F orm A and F orm 4 voucher covering the purchase of non- expendable property must be accompanied by an invoice and a signed receipt (Form 939) which will be sent to the Property Auditor, after the number of the paid voucher is entered in the lower left-hand corner. If a voucher covering the purchase of nonexpendable property is not accompanied by Form 939, this form will be filled out in tripli- cate, the number of the paid voucher entered in the lower left-hand corner, and the three unsigned copies forwarded to the Property Auditor. Vouchers (Form BF) for advertising will be examined for com- pliance with the Secretary’s letter of authorization and the sworn statement of rates. Payments to temporary laborers for services of one day or more will be recorded on salary cards (Form 272), from Form 143 and from vouchers Forms A and 4. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 55 From vouchers (Form 4) the use of transportation requests will be checked against cards (Form 199), and the use of mileage will be entered on cards (Form 266). Vouchers will be sent to Chiefs for certification in envelopes with a list of receipt numbers of the vouchers inclosed. A carbon of this list will be retained until all vouchers recorded on it have been returned, when it will be destroyed. So far as possible, vouchers will be certified the same day, and will be returned with the list in the envelope in which they were received. Vouchers withheld will be noted on the list by the certifying officer, which will not be destroyed until the retained vouchers are also received. Review. — As vouchers are received after certification, they will be reviewed for the correctness of audit, to determine that certification is complete, and that changes recommended by certifying officers do not conflict with the Fiscal Regulations and the Decisions of the Comp- troller, and that the amount to be paid is clearly shown on the voucher. Vouchers should not be reviewed by the person who audited them. Payment. — Daily, after review, vouchers will be sorted by appro- priation and given voucher numbers. The number of the check drawn in payment will be entered on each voucher. Daily, the total of all checks, compiled from the checks themselves, must agree with the total of all vouchers paid, before the checks are mailed. Only when accounts contain a large number of separate charges, as, for example, transportation accounts, will Form 484 accompany the checks, for identification. The vouchers, with the corresponding checks, envelopes, and re- mittance cards, will then go to the District Fiscal Agent, who will scrutinize the voucher and check and sign the latter. After vouchers are paid, Invoices and Receipts (Form 939) will be detached and sent to the Property Auditor, and the necessary entries will be m,ade in the Allotment and Liability record, Analysis of Forest Disbursements, Voucher Register, Record of Absences, Ab- stract of Disbursements, and Littlefield Report. The Form 99 ac- companying vouchers will be filed separately under Forests by Su- pervisors’ certification numbers. ANALYSIS OF FOREST DISBURSEMENTS. The vouchers for all expenditures under Supervisors’ allotments, except for fighting fire, will be analyzed on Form 22, one form being used for each Forest, and one line for each voucher, entries being made from Form 99. VOUCHER REGISTER. A register of all vouchers received for payment by the District Fiscal Agent, except pay rolls (Form 143), will be kept on cards 56 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. (Form 260). A card will be used for each payee, one space for each voucher, and the cards filed alphabetically by name of payee. Form 143, which will constitute a supplement to the Voucher Register, will be filed by offices, sections, and Forests. When a voucher is received, its description and amount, the date of receipt, and the Supervisor’s certification number will be entered on the card. When a voucher is returned for certification or correction, or is sent to another Fiscal Agent for payment, the date of action and reason will be entered. When a voucher is paid, the voucher, check, and file numbers, the date and amount of payment, and the address to which the check was mailed, will be entered. LITTLEFIELD REPORT. This report will cover for each appropriation for a fiscal year pay- ments from July 1 to September 30 of the following calendar year, and will be submitted to the Forester annually, not later than the 20th of October. Daily payments will be entered from Vouchers upon cards, Form 278 for salaries, and Form 250 for all other disbursements. These cards will be filed alphabetically under the appropriation from which the payment was made and by the following classes thereunder: Salaries; Travel, Station and Field Expenses; Stationer}^; Furni- ture; Apparatus; Instruments and Laboratory Material; Express; Freight; Telegraph; Telephone; Rent; Gas and Electricity; Fuel; Printing and Binding; Miscellaneous Supplies and Services, Equip- ment, Books, Machinery, etc. A voucher paid in part from one appropriation and in part from another will be entered on separate cards and the cards filed under the proper appropriation and class. The items on a voucher will, when necessary, be entered separately on cards under the different classes. Reimbursement Vouchers, Form 4, will always be classed as “ Travel, Station and Field Expenses.” Transportation Requests settled by payment to railroads will be entered in red ink on the “ Travel, Station and Field Expense ” cards of the member who used the request. A summary card will be kept in front of each class under each appropriation, and the total of the daily entries on the individual cards will be entered upon the summary cards, and the total of the summary cards compared with the total payments to date on the Abstracts of Disbursements. Monthly payments will be similarly entered from the vouchers submitted by the Special Disbursing Agents, and annually Treasury Settlement of claims will be similarly entered from Form 18. At the end of each year the entries on each card will be added and the totals entered on Littlefield Report sheets (Departmental Forms) MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 57 in duplicate. One copy of the Departmental Form and all cards (Forms 250 and 278) will be sent to the Forester. SPECIAL DISBURSING AGENTS’ VOUCHERS AND ABSTRACTS. The District Fiscal Agent will instruct Special Disbursing Agents to forward, not later than the fifth of each month, vouchers for the disburse- ments of the previous month, accompanied by an Abstract of Disburse- ments. These vouchers will be reviewed for completeness of certifica- tion, and to determine whether those covering nonexpendable prop- erty are supported by Invoices and signed Receipts. The Invoice and Receipts which accompany the vouchers will be sent to the Property Auditor. Where Invoices and Receipts are necessary, but not attached, they will be filled out in triplicate and sent unsigned to the Property Auditor. A record of the services of one day or more of all temporary laborers will be entered on Salary Cards (Form 272) . Disbursements will be entered from the summary (Form 99) accompanying the abstract, on the Allotment and Liability Record Cards (Form 21), and will be proved under the procedure established for the proving of the entries of the District Fiscal Agent’s disbursements. (See Proof of Entries, p. 51.) The total disbursements will be entered from the Abstract of Dis- bursements in the Disbursement and Allotment Ledgers. The disbursements by Special Disbursing Agents, except disburse- ments for fire expenses, will be entered on Form 22, from recapitu- lation sheets (Form 99). The Forms 99 will then be filed under Forests by Supervisors’ certification numbers. Vouchers will be filed by voucher number with the corresponding Abstracts of Disburse- ments until the end of each quarter, when they will be forwarded to the Forester, with the corresponding Account Current, not later than the twentieth day of the month following the last month of the quarter. RECEIPTS AND REFUNDS. Receipts. — Receipts from all sources will be paid to a designated United States Depository for each District. A Form 861 will be prepared by the Supervisor or Ranger concerned, for each transaction involving payment, with one copy in the case of grazing permits and with two copies in all other cases. The original will be given to the payee for transmission with his remittance to the Depository. One copy will be retained by the Super- visor or Ranger. The third copy will be sent to the District Forester. For grazing permits the Supervisor or Ranger will send in a copy of Form 762 instead of Form 861. Daily, from Form 861, the Depository will record remittances on an Abstract of Receipts (Form 25), of which twTo copies will be 58 MANUAL OF PEOCEDUEE. furnished to the District Fiscal Agent, with a copy of the cer- tificate of deposit covering all entries on the Abstract of Receipts for the same day. The Abstracts of Receipts will bear the numbers of the corresponding Certificates of Deposit, and at the end of each quarter the totals will be summarized on sheets of the same form. The District Fiscal Agent will prepare a Notification of Receipt (Form 26) with two carbons, for each remittance, one carbon to be filed alphabetically as an index to receipts, and the other carbon to be sent with the original card to the Office concerned. REFUNDS. Refunds to depositors of money deposited in excess of the amounts due will be refunded on vouchers (Form A) in accordance with the Act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat., 1256), the instructions in the Use Book (p. 150), and the Fiscal Regulations of the Department of Agriculture. Refunds will be made in the manner prescribed under “ Handling of Vouchers for Disbursement ” (pp. 54 to 55). Analysis of receipts. — From the Abstract of Receipts each deposit will be entered separately by classes under Forests on sheets (Form 27) which will be kept in a loose-leaf binder. Each day’s entries will be ruled off, totaled, and proved by comparison with the total on the Abstract. At the end of each month the total receipts for the month by classes will be entered from sheets (Form 27) on Forest Receipts Cards (Form 28), separate cards for each Forest being used, for each of the following classes of business: Grazing, Special Uses, Timber Sales, Timber Settlement, and Timber Trespass.- From the Forest Receipts Cards the total receipts of each month for each Forest will be summarized on a Forest Summary Card (Form 28). The total receipts of each month for each class of busi- ness for all Forests will be summarized on a Class Summary Card (Form 28), and the total receipts of each month frqm all classes will be summarized on a District Summary Card (Form 28). Analysis of refunds. — Vouchers covering refunds will after pay- ment be entered, separately by classes under Forests, on sheets (Form 27) . At the end of each month the total of all entries of refunds during the month will be proved by comparison with the total on the Abstract of Disbursements. From the sheets (Form 27) the totals for the month will be entered on the Forest Receipts cards (Form 28) . From the Forest Receipts cards the totals will be summarized on the Forest Summary, Class Summary, and District Summary cards (Form 28) in the same manner as prescribed for receipts. Comparison of receipts. — The record on the Summary cards (Form 28) will be completed monthly by entering the net receipts and the MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 59 amount and percentage of increase or decrease in gross receipts as compared with the same period of the preceding fiscal year. Report of receipts and refunds — Receipts —A. Report of Receipts will be compiled in duplicate at the end of each month, giving, by Forests and by classes, the gross receipts for the month and the total gross receipts to date. Form 27 will be used, and two lines will be used for each Forest, one for current and one for total receipts. The monthly and total receipts to date by classes for all Forests and the grand total of receipts for the District will also be shown. Two copies of the Report of Receipts will go to the District Forester not later than the fifth of each month, and he will immediately submit one copy to the Forester. Refunds. — A Report of Refunds, similarly prepared on Form 27, will go on the same date to the District Forester, who will submit one copy to the Forester. ABSTRACT OF DISBURSEMENT. Daily disbursements will be entered from paid vouchers upon the Abstract of Disbursement (Form 154) in duplicate. The totals of these entries must coincide with the total disbursements for the day as shown by the Cashbook. ACCOUNTS CURRENT. The District Fiscal Agent will render a quarterly Account Current of disbursements and receipts. The Account Current (Form 389), with abstracts (Forms 154 and 25) and the corresponding vouchers, will be mailed to the Forester not later than the 20th day of the month following the last month of the quarter. TRANSPORTATION REQUESTS AND MILEAGE BOOKS. Transportation Requests will be forwarded to the District Fiscal Agent upon the recommendation of the District Forester. The Dis- trict Fiscal Agent will keep a record of transportation requests re- ceived and will issue them upon request from offices on Form 659. A card record (Form 199), filed alphabetically, will be kept for each person to whom transportation requests are issued. As transporta- tion-request coupons are received they will be entered on the card. The vouchers of transportation companies will be audited against the entries on Forms 199, which will be checked as paid. The Dis- trict Fiscal Agent will pay transportation vouchers only for requests of which he has record. Mileage Books , purchased on transportation requests, will be re- corded on Form 199, and the accounts of transportation companies 60 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. will be audited as above. A record of all mileage purchased (Form 266) will be kept for each person who purchases mileage, on which will be recorded the use; of mileage as reported on Form 4 vouchers. Unused mileage will be sent to the District Fiscal Agent, who will credit the individual concerned on Form 266, and forward it to the transportation company for refund. Transportation Refunds. — A refund by a transportation company will be remitted to the District Depository and will be credited to the appropriation under which the disbursement was made. IDENTIFICATION CARDS. The District Fiscal Agent will have a personal identification card prepared for the signature of the District Forester, and will procure the necessary telegraph identification cards, for all members to whom letters of authorization are issued, and for such others as the District Forester may designate. The numbers of personal and telegraph identification cards will be recorded on the Individual Salary card. The District Fiscal Agent will recover all identification cards from members leaving the Service. AUTHORIZATIONS FOR ADVERTISING. As lists of newspapers recommended for the advertisement of National Forest business are received from Organization, they will be incorporated in letters requesting the necessary authorizations to the Secretary of Agriculture for the signature of the Forester. As the authorizations are received in duplicate the original will be filed and the duplicates forwarded to the Supervisors. Maintenance. QUARTERS. The accountability of the Chief of Maintenance for property in the District Office will follow^ the routine prescribed under “ Forest Accountability,” in Service Order 15 (Field Program, May, 1908). He will be responsible for the efficiency of the janitor service, and will report to the District Forester any violation of rules for the safe- guarding of quarters and property, including the Service Order that only safety matches be used in quarters occupied by the Service. He will be charged with the disposition and efficiency of the messenger force, and will see that rounds for the collection and delivery of papers are made at regular intervals during the day. Messengers making these rounds must not be called off for special errands. When a messenger is sent out of the building he will report to the Chief of Maintenance before leaving. Messengers will not be assigned to clerical work. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 61 MAIL AND FILES. The handling of mail and of the files will follow the routine pre- scribed under General Procedure, pages 17 to 30. EQUIPMENT. The Chief of Maintenance will maintain, through requisition on Form 668, on the Property Clerk at Ogden, a sufficient stock of sta- tionery and office supplies for use in the District Office, which he will distribute under requests on Form 995. Requisitions on the Property Clerk will be prepared in duplicate, and one copy filed in a waiting file, to be used in checking articles received. Requisitions (Form 668) for instruments and field supplies for use by members of the District Office will be made out in duplicate, in- itialed by the Chief of the Office concerned, and both copies sent to the Chief of Maintenance, who will be responsible for obtaining the desired article from the Property Clerk. Under an annual allotment to Maintenance, a letter of authoriza- tion will be issued by the District Forester to the Chief of Main- tenance to cover, in cases of emergency, small miscellaneous pur- chases' of stationery and office supplies, the vouchers in payment for which will be approved by the Chief of Operation. The Chief of Maintenance will purchase no article carried in stock by the Property Clerk at Ogden, and under no circumstances will he purchase instru- ments or field equipment. STENOGRAPHY AND TYPEWRITING. As additional stenographers and routine clerks are needed in any part of a District Office, application will be made to the Chief of Maintenance, who, so far as practicable, will supply the need from his trained force, which will be kept constant by new appointments. The stenographers and clerks permanently assigned to any Office or Section will be limited strictly to those necessary to maintain the current routine peculiar to it. Miscellaneous typewriting and steno- graphic work temporary in character, or not requiring the services of one person throughout each day, will be done by the force concentrated in Maintenance for that purpose. When additional stenographic help is supplied by temporary detail from this force the transcribing will be done in Maintenance, and the assignment will terminate as soon as the material is delivered. Typewriting not involving dictation will be done in Maintenance upon requisition (Form 161). The observance of the following rules is necessary for economy in this work : No manuscript will be presented for typewriting until it has been so carefully revised that the necessity for editing it in a scratch copy is obviated. 62 MANUAL. OF PROCEDURE. Botanical names, technical terms, and names of persons, towns, mountains, streams, etc., will be plainly written and correctly spelled. When tables are included the form of tabulation will be indicated. Papers already filed under one subject will not be copied merely for filing under another subject, when a cross-reference sheet would answer every necessary purpose. Material containing corrections on the copy and intended for the printer or for filing, but in such form that it can be easily and cor- rectly read, will not be clean copied. SILVICULTURE. DUTIES. The supervision of the sale and free use of timber on National Forests, except final decision in sales above the prescribed limit, of planting, and of silvical work. Federal, State, and private cooperation in forest management and planting. ROUTINE. Timber Sales. CLASS A AND UNADVERTISED CLASS B SALES. Upon receipt from the Supervisor of the first duplicate Letter of Transmittal (Form 861), it will be checked for conformity with in- structions (U. B. pp. 78-79), for correct computation, and to deter- mine if the prices are consistent and not below the approved mini- mum rates. The data on the first Letter of Transmittal will be entered upon a white Timber Sales Record Card (Form 615), which will be filed under Forests alphabetically by purchaser. The Letter of Trans- mittal will then be stamped “ Recorded ” and placed in the Reminder File in the Office of Silviculture. This file will be examined weekly and the Supervisors notified of cases in which payments are three weeks late. Subsequent Letters of Transmittal will be filed without record in the Reminder File. Upon receiving original and duplicate of the District Fiscal Agent’s Notification of Receipt (Form 26), the amount paid will be checked against the amount due, as shown by the Letter of Transmittal, and the amount paid and date of receipt entered on the Timber Sales Record card. The original will then be forwarded to the payee and the duplicate to the Supervisor, who, after entering the date and amount of the deposit on the corresponding Timber Sales Record Card, will send the duplicate to the Ranger concerned. The Letter of Transmittal will then be filed in the case folder. Shoulder the Notification of Receipt reach Timber Sales before the Letter of Transmittal, the data will be entered on a Timber Sales Record Card and completed on receipt of the Letter of Transmittal. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE, 63 As Cutting Reports (Form 820) are received they will be compared with the Timber Sales Record Card for errors in entries brought for- ward from the last report, and for the correctness of the rates. All calculations will be checked and the information regarding the prog- ress of the sale closely scrutinized. The date of the report, quantity of each class of material cut, and total value of the cut since the last report and to date, will be entered on the Record card. The total value of the cut to date will be compared with the total of deposits to guard against cutting in excess of payments. ADVERTISED CLASS B SALES. The application and report will be examined for accordance with the instructions in Circular SM of April 22, 1908, and with instruc- tions to the Supervisor as to price, amount, period, and other condi- tions. Special care is necessary to insure conservative cutting, that the estimated stand to be left is sufficient, and that the plan for mark- ing agrees with the policy for the Forest and the type. The carbon of the Notice of Sale will be checked, with particular attention to the period allowed for submitting bids, the location of the cutting area, the estimate, the price, and the deposit required. A salmon Timber Sales Record Card will be filled out and filed with the cards for sales of other classes. If a Letter of Transmittal is received covering the deposit to ac- company the bid of a person other than the applicant, the data will be entered on a Timber Sales Record Card. Other Letters of Trans- mittal and Notifications of Receipt will be handled as under “ Class A and Unadvertised Class B Sales.” The published Notice of Sale (Form 935) will be checked with the carbon previously received from the Supervisor, and filed as a reminder against the receipt of a copy of the contract and of the bond. When these are received, the data already entered on the Timber Sales Record Card will be checked. If the contract is awarded to another than the applicant, a new card will be filled out. Cutting Reports will be handled as outlined under “ Class A and Unadvertised Class B Sales.” If the Supervisor has allowed advance cutting (See Field Pro- gramme, August, 1907) , the copy of application will be reviewed and it will be determined from the Timber Sales Record card whether the necessary deposit has been made. If the deposit has not been made, the Supervisor will be notified by wire. CLASS C SALES. The application will be examined as under ;; Advertised Class B Sales,” and if approved a blue Timber Sales Record Card will be filled out and filed with the cards for sales of other classes. 64 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. Letters of Transmittal and Notifications of Receipt will be handled as under “Advertised Class B Sales.” After approval of application and receipt of deposit to cover adver- tising, a Notice of Sale will be prepared with two carbons, the original signed by the District Forester and, with one carbon, sent to the Supervisor. The published Notice of Sale will be checked with the carbon re- tained, with particular attention to the period allowed for submit- ting bids, the location of the cutting area, the estimate, the price, and the deposit required, and then filed in the promise card box under the last date given for receiving bids. The envelopes containing bids will be stamped with the date of receipt and filed unopened in the safe by sales, under the date of opening. Bids will be opened on the day following the last day for receiving bids, and the Supervisor notified of the names of bidders and the amount of each bid. If the award is made to another than the applicant a new Timber Sales Record Card will be filled out. A contract will then be prepared with four carbons. One copy will be filed in the case folder and the original and three carbons will be sent to the Supervisor, who will have the original and one carbon executed by the purchaser and return them to the District Office. After the District Forester has approved both copies the duplicate will be forwarded to the purchaser through the Supervisor and the original filed in the safe. The signatures and dates of execution and approval will be entered on the carbon retained. When the contract is returned, executed, the data on the Timber Sales Record Card will be checked and deposits made by unsuccessful bidders will be refunded, as provided on page 54. Cutting reports will be handled as under “ Class A and Unadver- tised Class B Sales.” If applications for advance cutting are allowed, the duplicate copy will be approved and sent to the applicant through the Supervisor. If advance cutting is allowed, and the sale awarded to another than the applicant, the Supervisor will be notified by wire to suspend operations. For proposed sales which exceed the limit fixed by the Forester, the Supervisor’s report with the map and a copy of the application will be forwarded to the Forester by the District Forester with his definite recommendations. After the Forester has authorized the sale it will be handled by the District Office under the routine pre- scribed above. TIMBER SETTLEMENT. Supervisor's Permits.— The duplicate Letter of Transmittal will be checked and the data recorded as provided under “ Class A and Unadvertised Class B Sales,” using a white card (Form 615) MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 65 stamped “ Timber Settlement,5’ which will be filed under Forests with the cards for Timber Sales. The Letters of Transmittal, the Notifi- cations of Receipt, and the Cutting Reports will be handled as under “ Class A and Unadvertised Class B Sales.” District Forester's and Forester's Permits. — The copy of the Su- pervisor’s report received from Occupancy will be returned with a draft of the requirements for the timber settlement in the permit or stipulation, and a signed letter of instructions to the Supervisor. The case will be entered on a white card (Form 615), stamped “ Tim- ber Settlement,” which will be filed under Forests with the cards for timber sales. Cutting reports will be handled as under “ Class A and Unadver- tised Class B Sales.” ADMINISTRATIVE USE. Supervisors’ reports on insect-infested or other timber which should be disposed of through administrative use will be acted upon in the District Office, except that proposed departure from established policy will be submitted to the Forester. Administrative use by sale will follow the routine of Class C sales, or, if without charge, of District Forester’s Free Use Permits. FREE USE. Supervisor's Permits. — The Supervisor’s annual report of free use business will be carefully scrutinized and the quantity of each class of material and total value used will be entered on the summary card (Form 616) as timber cut. District Forester's Permits. — When an application for a Free Use Permit is issued, a white card (Form 615) stamped “ Free Use,” will be filled out and filed under Forests with the cards for timber sales. If the permit is refused, the applicant will be so informed through the Supervisor. Cutting Reports will be handled as under “ Class A and Unadver- tised Class B Sales,” and the record examined to determine whether the total quantity cut exceeds that fixed in the permit. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS. A special agreement is required for any modification of a timber sale contract, and the consent of the sureties, when a bond has been given. Extension of time without change in the other conditions of the contract will be granted only when causes over which the purchaser 61048—08 5 66 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. had no control have unavoidably delayed his operations. When the purchaser is responsible for the failure to remove the timber in the time specified, it will be determined before the extension is decided upon whether stumpage rates should be increased or other changes made in the conditions of the contract. When a contract is modified to postpone brush piling, a bond will be required unless it accompanied the original contract. CANCELLATION OE CONTRACTS. Contracts will be canceled only by the District Forester, and after the Supervisor has reported fully upon the condition and location of the cut- tings. If the cancellation is by mutual agreement, an application executed by the purchaser and approved by the District Forester is necessary. If the cancellation is enforced, the District Forester will send a formal notice of cancellation to the purchaser through the Supervisor. TIMBER TRESPASS. Upon receipt of Timber Trespass Report (Form 865) and a Propo- sition of Settlement (Form 653), the Supervisor will be notified whether the settlement offered is satisfactory, and the case recorded on Form 618, which will be filed under the Forest alphabetically by name. F orm 861 will be handled as under “ Timber Sales — Class A and Unadvertised Class B Sales.” If legal action is necessary, the case with accompanying papers will be referred to the District Law Officer for action. No statement to the trespasser of proposed legal action will be made except with the approval of the District Law Officer. SAWMILL PERMITS. Supervisor's Permits . — The papers received will be reviewed for conformity with the instructions in the circular “ Special Uses — Saw- mills,” of September 25, 1907. As soon as action is taken, Form 619 will be filled out and filed under the Forest alphabetically by name of permittee. If a rental is charged, a duplicate copy of Form 619 will be filled out as soon as the agreement has been executed and approved, and referred to Occupancy, where the receipts of payments will be fol- lowed up. District Forester's Permits. — Except that a permit and bond will be prepared and approved in the District Office, the routine will follow that prescribed for “ Supervisor’s Permits.” MANUAL OF PEOCEDUEE. 67 CLOSING CASES. When any case is closed the card will be stamped “ Closed,” the date of closing entered, and the card placed in the current file, under the Forest, behind a guide card marked “ Closed.” At the end of each month, after the cards are reviewed for the monthly summary, the cards in closed cases will be sent .to the File Room as memoranda to transfer the case folders to the closed file. Upon their return, the cards will be filed alphabetically by name, under Forests, in two series, those for cases approved during the current fiscal year being separated by a guide card from those for cases approved in any pre- ceding year. SUMMARY OF TIMBER SALE RECORDS. A summary (Form 616) of the timber business will be kept for each Forest, and the cards filed in front of all other record cards for each Forest. At the end of each month the quantity of each class of timber sold and cut and the value of all timber sold and cut dur- ing the month will be entered upon the summary card. At the end of each fiscal year the summaries by Forests will be totaled and entered upon a summary card for the District, which will be filed as the first card in the current record file. The timber cut in free use and the total cut for the year will be entered, for each Forest, on Form 616. ESTIMATES. If the estimate of total stand received from any Supervisor materially changes former estimates, the annual cut prescribed for the Forest will be modified accordingly. Not later than March 1 of each year the maximum annual cut and the policy with regard to sales and free use will be determined for each Forest, the Supervisors instructed accordingly, and this data entered on Form 622. STUMPAGE RATES. The minimum stumpage rates approved for each Forest will be revised annually not later than March 1, the Supervisors instructed accordingly, and the rates entered on Form 623. MARKING RULES. General marking rules for important forest types will be perfected as rapidly as possible. All general marking rules will be considered for revision not later than March 1 of each year. Every notice of approval of timber sale applications sent to a Supervisor will be accompanied by a letter on marking, supplementing the general marking rules and emphasiz- ing those of particular importance in the sale in question. 68 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. RECONNOISSANCE STUDIES. Estimates and descriptions by sections will be made on Form 322, and township maps and estimates on Form 323. When a study is finished, a complete set of these forms and a copy of the report will be sent to the Supervisor, with the necessary instructions. FIELD COST OF TIMBER SALES. The annual cost of timber sales on each Forest will be considered with the amount of timber sold and cut to determine whether the cost has been excessive. Federal Cooperation. INDIAN OFFICE. Cooperative work on Indian Reservations will be conducted under the agreement of January 22, 1908. Since this provides that all costs will be borne by the Indian Office, projects should not be under- taken, except in emergency, until funds have actually been made available to cover the cost of the work. This necessitates in each case the preparation in the District Office of a letter to the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs, for the signature of the Forester, outlining the work proposed and estimating its cost. Since all timber sales on Indian Reservations require the approval of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the papers in each proposed sale will be sent to the Forester for approval by the Commissioner. After a sale is approved it will, so far as the laws and regulations affecting Indian Reservations permit, follow the routine of Class C sales on National Forests. No timber sale on any Indian Reservation will be recommended until its legality has been determined by the District Law Officer. OTHER COOPERATION. This cooperation varies so greatly in scope and character that it has no routine common to it as a whole. The essential points are that the correspondence leading to this cooperation and the reports upon it be transmitted through the Forester, who will sign the agreements, but that the work itself be handled by the District Office. The recom- mendation of new projects should always include an estimate of cost, which, when trifling, or when the importance of the work justi- fies it, may be borne wholly by the Service. State and Private Cooperation. STATE COOPERATION. Letters to State officials suggesting cooperation in forest manage- ment or transmitting formal agreements, and reports of investiga- tions and recommendations for action by the State will be prepared MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 69 in the District Office and submitted, with one carbon, for the signature of the Forester, who will also sign the agreements. PRIVATE COOPERATION. Agreements for cooperation in forest management with private owners will be approved by the District Forester, and all correspond- ence regarding it will be handled by the District Office. When a proposed project involves a radical departure from existing policy or an increase in the District force, the District Forester will submit the application for such cooperation, with his recommendations, to the Forester for decision. Requests for private cooperation will be satisfied by advice by letter when possible, or by field examination if considered necessary, after formal application has been made on Form 704, in accordance with the terms of Circular 21. Reports upon cooperative studies with private owners will be pre- pared in accordance with the standard outline. Reports on the prac- tice of forestry on private lands will be made on Form 216. Since extra copies of reports upon cooperative studies are often needed to meet requests for advice, at least two extra copies of each report will be filed with the correspondence in the case folder. A card index will be kept in which applications for cooperation involving field studies will be filed alphabetically by name of appli- cant, and subsequent steps recorded. Planting. NATIONAL FOREST PLANTING. Upon receipt of three copies of each Supervisor’s annual Planting Re- port, including a revision of the Five- Year Planting Plan extended for one year (U. B., p. 168), an annual planting report for the District will he prepared which will include a revision of the Five-Year Planting Plan for the District extended for one year. This report and revised plan will he submitted to the District Forester not later than February 1, and a copy will be sent to the Forester. Each Supervisor will receive as instructions an approved copy of the Planting Plan for his Forest. The annual Nursery Report, submitted in duplicate by those Supervisors having nurseries, will be examined to determine the stock available for the next year’s operations. An outline of the experimental work to be carried on at the nursery and a statement of the stock required to carry out Five- Year Planting Plans on those Forests supplied from each nursery will be sent each Supervisor concerned. Upon receipt from the Supervisor of three copies of a revised Five-Year Plan for his nursery extended for one year and based upon the stock required, one copy will be approved and returned. 70 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. The originals of these reports will be filed as a whole and the duplicates divided and filed by subjects. The statistical reports sub- mitted with the Supervisor’s annual report on planting and the nur- sery, seed, and stock reports will be filed chronologically by stations. COOPERATIVE PLANTING. Assistance in forest planting will be given under the terms of Cir- cular 22. Applications should, so far as possible, be satisfied by letters of advice, transmitting the suitable planting circulars and lists of dealers upon application. Where a cooperative field study is advisable, the applicant will be furnished with Form 728 and Form 861 filled out to accompany his deposit. Planting plans based on field study will be prepared in accordance with the instructions in “ Planting Plan Studies and Re- ports ” of June, 1908. One copy will be sent to the cooperator and at least two extra copies kept in the case folder. Studies of estab- lished plantations will be reported in accordance with the instruc- tions in the “ Plan for Study of Forest Plantations ” of June, 1908. Cooperation in planting with other branches of the Federal Gov- ernment or with States will follow the routine prescribed for State and Federal Cooperation in forest management. The Forest Service will furnish stock only for purely experimental planting, and in such cases annual reports of results will be required. A reminder card record will be kept of all correspondents who plan to do commercial planting, in order that cards (Form 891) may be sent them later for reports on their plantations. When cor- respondence indicates that planting has already been done, the cards will be sent at once. When returned, they will be filed under species, alphabetically, by name of owner. The card record will be reviewed not later than March 1, and owners of plantations concerning which new data is desirable will be asked to supply it. Data upon forest planting outside National Forests, including species planted, results, and brief notes on site conditions, will be entered on 5" by 8" cards, which will be filed under States by coun- ties. Cross references will be made to all reports on plantations within each county. Sinvics. The men in charge of experiment stations will report directly to the District Forester, but the Supervisor will he consulted in the choice of experimental areas within his Forest. Should other use of the land be pro- posed by the Supervisor or by any Office, final decision will be made by the District Forester. Copies of reports upon experimental stations and of annual sil- vical reports from Supervisors, which contain important information MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 71 or which propose radical changes in policy or the institution of im- portant studies will be sent to the Forester. LIBRARY. Upon receipt of books from Washington the card (Form 185) will be signed and returned, and the subject and author cards filed alpha- betically in the card catalogue. The receipt of periodicals will be recorded on Form 1 of the De- partment Library, and the periodicals kept in a binder or box next to bound volumes of the same periodical. When a volume is com- plete, it will be sent to Washington for binding. When a book is loaned, a charge card (Form 172) will be signed by the borrower, the date entered, and the card filed alphabetically by author. When the book is returned the date will be entered over the signature of the borrower and the charge card returned to the book pocket. Books needing rebinding will be sent to Washington and the fact noted on the charge card. The file card charges will be examined on the first of each month, and those who have had books more than a month will be notified. GRAZING. DUTIES. The supervision of grazing business, under existing regulations and the prescribed allowances, periods, and rates. ROUTINE. Grazing Permits. AUTHORIZATION. Upon receipt of each Supervisor’s annual grazing report in dupli- cate, a supplementary report will be prepared, also in duplicate, ap- proving or modifying the Supervisor’s report, and the original of each forwarded to the Forester. Upon receipt of the Authorization in duplicate for each Forest, it will be entered on the Authorization Becord Card (Form (404), the duplicate filed, and the original sent to the Supervisor with the nec- essary instructions. The Authorization Becord Cards will be filed alphabetically by Forests. ADVERTISING. As Grazing Authorizations are forwarded to Supervisors, instruc- tions will be given, where the number of permits justifies it, to publish in one or more local papers authorized by the Secretary of Agricul- ture, a notice to the public that the allowances, periods, and rates for the Forest concerned have been established and that full information may be had from the Supervisor, whose name and address should be 72 MANUAL. OF PROCEDURE. given. Forms BF and 961 should accompany the instructions. A note, “Advertisement authorized ” will be made on the Authorization Card. Vouchers for advertising before being approved for payment will be compared with the Authorization Card to determine whether the publication was authorized. NOTICE OF APPROVAL. As duplicate notices of approval of grazing applications (Form 762) are received from the Supervisor, they will be examined for clerical errors and compared with the Authorization Record to deter- mine whether the season, rates, and fees are correct. If mistakes are found, the Supervisor will be so informed. Should the error lie in the calculation of the grazing fees, the Supervisor will be notified on Form 859, the correct calculation being noted in the lower left-hand corner of the card. After examination the notices will be recorded upon the Grazing Record (Forms 621 and 256) , which will be filed -under Forests, alpha- betically, by name of applicant. The cards for five-year periods (Form 256) will be removed from the file each year at the end of the period covered by the Grazing Authorization and filed with the cards for the following year. Upon receipt of an amended or corrected notice it will be reviewed, and if correct the Grazing Record Card will be changed accordingly, the notice being then sent to the file room. Upon receipt of a supplemental notice, subsequent to the issue of the first permit, the routine will be the same as for an original notice, except that cross-reference will be made on the original card. Upon receipt of a letter or notice canceling an application pre- viously approved and recorded, the Grazing Record will be stamped “ Canceled,” and filed as before. REMITTANCES. Upon receiving from Accounts original and duplicate copies of the Notification of Receipts, the amount paid will be checked against the amount due and the remittance entered on the Grazing Record Card. If the amount of the remittance is incorrect it will be checked against the notice and if still found to be incorrect a pencil note indi- cating the excess or deficit will be made upon the original Notifica- tion. Both copies of the Notification will then he sent to the Supervisor who will send the original to the permittee. Excess payment will be refunded upon receipt of the duplicate of the grazing permit. (See Refunds, p. 74.) VERIFICATION. Upon receipt of the duplicate grazing permit (Form 656) it will be compared with the grazing record card. If the permit is in MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 73 proper form and for the correct number of stock and correct grazing period, the date of issue will be recorded on the Grazing Record Card. Upon receipt of a supplemental permit issued for stock already per- mitted to graze but which has been purchased, it will be checked against the original record card, and if in proper form cross-reference entry will be made on the original card and a new card written for the supplemental permit. When a permit is canceled the Grazing Record Card and the duplicate permit will be stamped “ Canceled.” Within a reasonable time after payments are due the delinquent appli- cants will be listed from the record cards and a copy of the list forwarded to each Supervisor with the request that he take steps to have payment made, or in case the applicant wishes to have his application canceled, to so notify the District office. PRIVATE LANDS. Upon receipt of a request from a Supervisor for determination of the title to private lands which it is desired to use as the basis for a free grazing permit, a list describing the lands by legal subdivisions will be prepared and referred to Operation. Upon return of the list to Grazing, a letter will be written to the Supervisor informing him of the status of the land and giving him any further instructions necessary in the case. When a duplicate grazing permit which has been issued on account of the use of private land within a Forest is received it will be recorded on a card (Form 403). GRAZING USE PERMITS. It is within the authority of the Supervisor to issue all grazing use per- mits which are in accordance with the provisions of the regulations. But permits for pastures*exceeding 320 acres or at a lower rate than 4 cents per acre must not be issued until authorized by the District Forester. Upon receipt from the Supervisor of the duplicate copy of a permit for the construction of a corral, pasture, or drift or division fence, or for other special grazing use, it will be scrutinized and entered upon a card (Form 619), which will be filed alphabetically under the Forest by name of permittee. In all cases except those in which the permit is issued free of charge, a Collection Calendar Card (Form 300) will be prepared and filed under the date on which the annual payment is due. When any paper relative to special use is received, the Card Index will be consulted. If no Index Card (Form 619) is found, the case is new and will require an Index Card, a Collection Card (Form 300), and a jacket. All papers referring to the case will be placed inside the jacket and filed alphabetically under Forests by names. When a case is closed the Index Card will be marked “ Closed,” and 74 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. the date of the letter closing the case noted upon it in red ink. The Calendar Card will then be destroj^ed. The Index Card will be noted with number of closed transfer file containing the case, and then placed in the Closed Index file. PAYMENTS. On receipt of the duplicate permit, the payment due will be entered on the back of the Index Card, left column. When a payment is received, the amount will be entered in the right column and in red ink. The payment will also be checked as paid on the Calendar Card, which will then be placed in front of the “ unpaid ” guide card. The payment will also be checked on the notification letter in jacket. The Calendar Cards for all payments due on the 1st and on the 15th will be filed behind separate guide cards. NOTIFICATION. The Calendar Cards will be examined at regular intervals, and one month before payment is due Form 362 will be filled out and sent to the Supervisor for transmittal to the permittee, after having been compared with the Index Card to determine that payment has not been made. If payment is due Form 362 with two carbon copies will be filled out. A letter of transmittal (Form 861), with one carbon cop}-, will be written and the transaction noted on the Calendar Card, which will then be placed behind an “ unpaid ” guide card. The original Form 362 and the letter of transmittal will be sent to the Supervisor for forwarding to the permittee, with carbon copy of Form 362, stamped “ Supervisor’s File,” attached. The other carbon copy of Form 362 will be filed in the District office. If payment is not received within ten days after it is due a second notice will be sent in the same manner as the first notice. If no pay- ment is made the case will be closed. Transfers. Upon receipt of application in proper form, signed by the person who made original payment, requesting the transfer of funds either to the credit of a permit on another Forest or to the credit of another person a cross reference will be made on the record card and the Dis- trict Fiscal Agent notified of the transfer. The Supervisor, or Super- visors, concerned will be informed of the transfer and instructed to make the necessary changes on their records and to issue amended or new permits. Refunds. Requests for refunds which are sent in error to the District office, will be referred to the Supervisor concerned for report and recom- mendation. If the request for refund is approved, the Supervisor will be so informed and a Form A voucher prepared for the signature MANUAL OE PROCEDURE. 75 of the person to whom the refund is to be made will accompany the letter. The amount of the refund and the date of -the voucher will be noted upon the record card. When the voucher is returned signed, it will be compared with the record card, on which will be entered “ Checked,” with the date. The voucher will then be approved by the Chief of the Office of Grazing and sent to Accounts for payment. If the request is disapproved, the Supervisor will be so informed with reasons. Trespass. Upon receipt of a trespass report (Form 856) from a Supervisor, it will be recorded on a card (Form 618), which will be filed alpha- betically by Forest and name of trespasser. The Chief of Grazing will then examine the report and accompanying papers and approve or disapprove the Supervisor’s recommendations and prepare a letter for the signature of the District Forester, notifying the Supervisor of the action taken upon his recommendation and of the amount which will be required in settlement for damages. All receipts for payments will be sent to the trespasser at once through the Supervisor, and when payment in full has been made a letter will be sent to the trespasser, through the Supervisor, closing the case. All action or correspondence leading to settlement of a trespass case will be followed up by use of a promise card. If payment is made when due, the card will be removed and the case closed as be- fore outlined, but if payment is not made, a letter will be written to the Supervisor, instructing him to give the trespasser a definitely stated time in which to make settlement or show cause for not doing so and the promise card will be moved ahead to this date. If at the expiration of the time the case has not been settled and the Super- visor does not report mitigating circumstances, it will be referred to the Law Officer for action. Recognition of Advisory Boards. Applications for recognition of Advisory Boards not submitted through the Supervisor of the Forest concerned will be referred to him for rec- ommendation. Upon receipt from a Supervisor of an application for the recogni- tion of an Advisory Board, accompanied by a list of the members of the Association, and a copy of the constitution and by-laws, the rec- ords of the Office will be examined to determine whether the member- ship comprises a majority of the permittees for the particular class or classes of stock within the Grazing District or Forest for which recognition is requested. 76 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. If approval is recommended, and if the membership of the Associa- tion constitutes a majority of the users of the Grazing District or Forest, and the constitution and by-laws contain the necessary pro- visions, the Association will be recognized by a letter addressed to its Secretary and signed by the District Forester, a copy of which will be sent to the Forester and to the Supervisor concerned, with a letter to the latter instructing him to cooperate with the Board in accord- ance with the Regulations. The title of the Association, names and addresses of its officers and the members of the Advisory Board, and the Grazing District or Forest for which recognition is granted will be entered on a card which will be filed by Forests. If the membership of the Association does not constitute a majority of the users of the District or Forest, or if the constitution and by- laws do not contain the necessary provisions, the papers will be returned to the Supervisor concerned, who will be instructed to ad- vise the Association of the requirements. If the Supervisor recommends the disapproval of an application, the Secretary of the Association will be so advised and informed that a period specified will be allowed the Association in which to show cause why it should be recognized. A promise card will bring the matter up for attention at the end of the period specified. If appeal is filed within the period specified, all papers will be forwarded to the Forester for final decision. Enforcement of Federal and State Quarantine Regulations. Upon receipt from the Forester of a statement of quarantine or inspection work to be conducted by the Bureau of Animal Industry during the grazing season the District Forester will communicate with the B. A. I. District Inspectors, requesting information regard- ing the quarantine or inspection regulations to be in force during the season, and the Forests to which they will apply. When this information is received the Supervisors concerned will be informed of the name and address of the District Inspector in charge and will be instructed regarding the regulations to be in force and to cooperate with the officers of the Bureau of Animal Industry, rendering them the necessary assistance and furnishing them with a list of the permittees and all other information required. The same routine will be followed in regard to State quarantine regulations, except that if they conflict with the regulations of the Bureau of Animal Industry the matter will be submitted to the Forester before issuing instructions to Supervisors. The enforcement of Federal or State quarantine regulations will not be undertaken by the Forest Service except in cooperation with the B. A. I. or State official in charge, and Supervisors will in all cases be furnished with definite instructions for their guidance. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 77 Upon receipt of requests for the enforcement of State or Federal quarantine regulations which conflict with Forest interests, or of requests from a State official which conflict with the regulations of the Bureau of Animal Industry, the District Forester will endeavor to secure a modification. If this can not be secured, the matter will be submitted to the Forester for decision before final instructions are issued to Supervisors. Construction of Range Improvement. All projects for range improvement will be approved by Grazing before construction is authorized. The Chief of Grazing will inform the District Engineer of his approval or disapproval of such projects by a memorandum. The relation of Grazing to permanent range improvement work will be advisory only, and the office will not be charged with its execution. Killing of Predatory Animals. Applications for the appointment of Guards or Rangers, to serve as hunters, will be referred to Grazing for recommendation. The Chief of Grazing will signify his approval or disapproval of such appointments by a memorandum to Operation or may initiate re- quests for such appointments in the same way. All monthly reports of the number of predatory animals killed will be handled in Grazing and retained in that office until report to the District Forester has been made. The progress and effect of each hunter’s work will be carefully noted and necessary recommendations for the transfer, furlough, or separation of hunters made to Operation. National Game Preserves. When a Game Preserve is proclaimed, Grazing will prepare a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture for the signature of the Forester, embodying complete regulations, specifying the game animals to be protected and those which may be killed ; the conditions under which any animals may be killed and the permits necessary; restrictions governing the carrying and use of firearms, and all other essential conditions. Upon return of the regulations approved by the Secre- tary, they will be filed in the District Office and full instructions given the Supervisor concerned, including authority to have the regu- lations advertised and printed, in poster form. Complaints. Upon receipt of a complaint it will be determined if the com- plainant is a permittee and whether reports and correspondence contain reference to the cause of his complaint. If the complaint 78 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. can be satisfactorily adjusted from the Office, a letter will be written to the complainant and a copy sent the Supervisor. All complaints concerning which the Office has no positive in- formation will be referred to the Supervisor, with instructions to take necessary action if it is within his field, or to report fully, a promise card being made out to insure attention. Upon receipt of a Supervisor’s report and recommendation definite instructions will be given him and the complainant informed of the action to be taken. Should prompt adjustment of the complaint be impossible, on the basis of the Supervisor’s report, the case will be investigated by the District Office. Appeals from Supervisor’s Grazing Decisions. Upon receipt from the Supervisor of appeals, answers, answers in rebuttal, or other papers required by the regulations, the District Forester will make decision and will inform the appellant and the Supervisor accordingly. Should the appellant appeal from the de- cision of the District Forester he will be given ten days within which to present his appeal to the Forester, through the District Forester, who will transmit it with accompanying papers to the Forester for final action. Cooperation Agreements. Upon receipt of a copy of any cooperation agreement which has been entered into by the Forest Service, the Chief of Grazing will take such action as is necessary to carry out those provisions of the agreement which refer to Grazing. PRODUCTS. DUTIES. Studies to increase the utilization of National Forest timbers within the District, including the investigation of markets and wood- using industries, the compilation of lumber prices, the collection of statis- tics of forest products, the testing of National Forest timbers, and the computation of results. The determination, independently and in cooperation with private owners, of preservative methods applicable to the timbers of the Dis- trict and rendering assistance in their application to private owners and to officers on National Forests; the supervision of all treating plants operated by the Forest Service, within the District. ROUTINE. Wood Utilization. Market studies and studies of wood-using industries, made outside of National Forests, will be under the immediate direction of the Chief of Products. Similar studies made on National Forests will be MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 79 under the direction of the Supervisor and the general supervision of the Chief of Products. Monthly quotations of lumber prices from firms in the principal markets within the District (List A) , and from firms in the principal' and secondary markets (List B), will be averaged and forwarded, List A so as to reach Chicago for publication not later than the sixth, and List B so as to reach Denver not later than the fourth of the ensuing month. A card record will be kept of all lumber com- panies and wood-using industries, and as rapidly as possible com- plete statistics of the forest products of the District will be compiled and maintained. All timber testing laboratories within the District will be under the supervision of the Chief of Products. The methods of testing, of record, and of report will follow Circular 38, “ Instructions to Engineers of Timber Tests,” except that monthly and special reports will be submitted to the Chief of Products in duplicate, of which one copy will be submitted to the Forester. On the basis of the monthly reports of the engineers in charge, monthly statements will be pre- pared and forwarded to cooperators in timber tests, copies of which will be submitted to the Forester. Requisitions for all computation needed in District Offices will be made upon the Chief of Products, who will fill those within the capacity of his computing force, and forward the others, with the data to be computed, to Washington, for computation and return. So far as practicable, computing of the following classes will be done by the District computing force: Checking scale books, planimeter work, statistical compilations, computations of estimates from valuation surveys, and computa- tions of volume and height measurements. Computation entailing the use of difficult formulae will be fully explained, and the person for whom the work is done should keep in close touch with it throughout. A file by species will be kept of all stand, growth, volume, and strength tables, both computed in the District and furnished from Washington, and copies issued, on request. Wood Preservation. FOREST SERVICE TREATING PLANTS. Plants owned and operated by the Forest Service for the preservative treatment of timber for use by the Forest Service on National Forests, and for cooperative experiments in the treatment of timber for private use will be under the direction of a designated Supervisor, to whom the Engi- neer in charge will report direct. Cooperative experiments in timber treatment will be paid for by the cooperator, on the basis of actual cost plus 10 per cent for maintenance and supervision. 80 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. COOPERATIVE TREATING PLANTS. Plants privately owned but operated by the Forest Service, in cooperation with their owners, to determine practicable methods of preservative treatment, will be in charge of an Engineer, who will report direct to the Chief of Products. The cost, including the sal- ary of the Engineer in charge, will be defrayed by the cooperator. All proposed cooperative agreements and plans for work under them will be submitted to the Forester for approval. Engineers in charge of treating plants will record timber treat- ments on Forms 35-39. They will submit at the end of each month a summary of work accomplished, giving the quantity and classes of timber treated, the preservatives used, and an itemized statement of the cost of treatments. Copies of these reports will be submitted to the Forester by the District Forester. At the end of each month, reports with two carbons, on each piece of cooperative work in timber treatment, will be prepared on the basis of reports submitted by the engineers in charge. The originals will be sent to the cooperator, by the District F orester, who will sub- mit copies to the Forester. Engineers in charge of treating plants will keep a record of all timbers, preservatives, and other supplies received at the plant (Forms 36 and 38) ; of the details of treatment (Form 35) ; of the total expenses of operating the plant (Forms 37 and 39) ; and a file containing copies of all correspondence and reports regarding the plant. PERIODIC REPORTS TO THE FORESTER. The District Forester will submit a monthly report to the Forester dealing with the larger questions settled during the past month, with those which immediately confront the District organization, and with the general progress and condition of forest matters in the District. Statistical statements, covered by the reports hereafter described, should not be included. Annually on April 1 the District Forester will submit to the Forester allotment estimates and recommendations for promotions for the next ensuing year, and appropriation estimates for the year following the next ensuing year. The following reports will be made to the District Forester, and a copy of each submitted to the Forester: Reports for which a date is specified will be mailed to Washington on that date. Reports specified merely as monthly will be mailed to Washington not later than the fifth of the month. Reports specified merely as annual will be mailed to Washington on Jul}T 15. Weekly, from all offices, effi- ciency reports on Forms 52 and 53, and accompanying statements. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 81 Law (monthly) . — -A brief statement of new legal questions of im- portance arising or likely to arise in the District, and a brief report of progress ; a tabulation by Forests of claims contests by class of claim, and of court cases (with the nature of the case) pending, begun, compromised, abandoned, concluded, appealed, or removed, with the name of the tribunal, the nature of the conclusion (for or against the Government) and the acreage and amount of damages in con- troversy, demanded, secured, and lost, respectively. Fire (annual, Dec. 1).— A report for the preceding fiscal year, giv- ing by Forests and by totals for the District the number of fires of each class, a, b, and c; the number separately of fires set by loco- motives, lightning, and campers, of incendiary fires, etc.; the total acreage burned over; the total acreage of merchantable timber destroyed; the timber destroyed in feet B. M. ; the total value of timber destroyed; the extent and character of damage to repro- duction ; the cost of fire to the Service ; and the value of cooperation received in fire fighting. Distribution of Service (annual, Dec. 1). — A report for the pre- ceding fiscal year, giving by Forests and by totals for the District the time, expressed in percentage, spent in each class of work by officers on National Forests. Meetings (annual). — A report for the preceding fiscal year giv- ing the number of Supervisor’s and of Ranger’s meetings, the attend- ance, the places at which the meetings were held, and a brief state- ment of their character and results. Permanent Improvements (quarterly). — A cumulative report giv- ing tabularly by classes for the District the total number of miles of completed projects and the cost per unit or per mile. The report for the quarter ending June 30 will constitute the annual report, and will give tabularly by Forests and by classes of improvements under each Forest the number or mileage of completed projects, the average cost per unit or per mile, and the total cost; the number or mileage of uncompleted projects, the average amount per unit or per mile already expended, and the state of completion expressed in percent- age; and, summarized by classes for the District, the total number or mileage and the average and total cost for completed and uncom- pleted projects separately, and for the latter the state of completion expressed in percentage. Boundaries (monthly). — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving the area of additions and eliminations made during the month, with the dates of proclamations. Ranger Stations (monthly) . — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving separately the number and area of sites recommended during the month for withdrawal or release to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and those withdrawn and released. 61048—08 6 82 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. Claims (monthly). — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving separately the number of each class of claims upon which report is requested by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; of claims regarding which recommendations have been made to the Commissioner with the character of the recommendation; and of cases pending, hearings ordered, patents, and cancellations. Areas will be given so far as shown by the record. Settlement (monthly). — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving separately the number of applications received, recorded, recalled by applicant, included in tracts listed, rejected be- cause the land is needed for public use, alienated or nonagricultural, and the area listed. Special Uses (semiannually). — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving separately the number, kind, acreage, and mileage of permits issued by Supervisors, issued by the District Forester, and refused by the District Forester; of those recom- mended to the Forester for issue, issued by the Forester, recom- mended to the Forester for refusal, and refused by the Forester; of Interior Department (easement) applications other than railroads, received by reference from Washington, recommended for approval to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, approved by the Secretary of the Interior, recommended to the Forester for rejection, and rejected by the Secretary of the Interior; and of Interior Depart- ment Railroad applications received from Washington, recommended for approval, recommended for rejection, and rejected by the Secre- tary of the Interior. Personnel (quarterly).— A tabular statement of the District per- sonnel at the end of the last quarter, giving by grades the number of employees assigned to each Office and Forest separately, and the totals bv grades for the District. Little-field (annua]. Oct. 20). — A report on Form 170 for the pre- ceding fiscal year. Receipts and Refunds (monthly). — A report on Form 27 for the preceding month. Liability Statement (monthly). — A report on Form 159 for the preceding month. Financial Statement (monthly). — A report on Form 279 for the preceding month. Temporary Labor (monthly). — A report on the Departmental form for the preceding month. Timber Sold (monthly). — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving for the preceding month the amount and valuation of timber sold and of timber cut. These reports will at the end of each fiscal year be combined into an annual report, giving the totals for the District with a supplemental report giving by For- MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 83 ests the reduction by cancellation or modification in the amount of timber covered by timber-sale contracts. Free TJse (annual, Oct. 1). — A tabulation by Forests and by totals for the District, giving for the preceding fiscal year the number of free-use permits, and the amount and valuation separately for the green and dead timber actually cut. Maximum Cut (annual, Mar. 1). — A report gAing by Forests any changes made since the last report in the maximum cut authorized under timber sales or free use, and other changes in timber sale policy, with a brief statement of the need for them. Stumpage Rates (annual, Mar. 1). — A report giving by Forests the approved minimum stumpage rates. Timber Sale Costs (annual, Sept. 1). — A report for the previous fiscal year giving by Forests the cost to the Forest Service per thou- sand feet of timber sold and cut. C ooperation (annual). — A brief summarjr for the preceding fiscal year of work done in Federal, State, and private cooperation sepa- rately, and in planting and forest management separately under each, giving the projects undertaken, their cost to the Service and to the cooperator, and their results. National Forest Planting (annual, Mar. 1). — A five-year District planting plan revised and extended one year and a summary of the planting reports submitted by Forest Supervisors. Silvics (annual, Mar. 1). — A brief summary of the important silvical projects undertaken at Experiment Stations and elsewhere, and of their results, and an outline of plans for future work. Grazing Permits (semiannual, on Aug. 1 and Feb. 1). — A tabu- lation by Forests, giving for the preceding halves of the fiscal year. The total number of permits issued for cattle, horses, and hogs combined, and the number of each class of stock; total number of permits issued for sheep and goats combined, and number of each class of stock; number of applicants who failed to pay grazing fees; number of crossing permits issued, and of each class of stock which crossed under permit; number of cooperative permits issued and of each class of stock grazed under them ; number of permits issued on account of private lands, the right to exclusive use of which has been waived, number of each class of stock covered by them, and total area released; and number of permits issued for use of private lands not containing waiver of exclusive use, number of each class of stock, and total area covered. Grazing Uses (semiannual, on Aug. 1 and Feb. 1). — A tabulation by Forests, giving the total number of all classes of paid grazing permits and the number of acres covered ; total number of free graz- ing use permits, number of acres covered, and number of miles of 84 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. drift or division fence constructed; also, the total amount of fees received from each class of permits. Grazing Trespass (annual, Aug. 1). — A report for the preceding fiscal year, giving by Forests the number of grazing ^ trespasses, illegal in closures and grazing use trespasses, and the number sepa- rately of cases settled, prosecuted, closed without settlement, and pending. Predatory Animals (annual, Aug. 1). — A summary for the pre- ceding fiscal year, of monthly reports from Supervisors (U. B., p. 149), giving by Forests the number of hunters employed and the period of employment of each, and the number separately of each kind of predatory animal killed by hunters and officers on National Forests other than hunters. A brief summary should also be given of the results obtained in the protection of fish and game on National Game Preserves. General Range Conditions (annual, Feb. 1). — A report for the preceding calendar year, giving briefly the general condition of graz- ing business in the District, the results of range improvement and development work completed during the year, and the work planned for the ensuing year. Timber Tests (monthly). — Copies of monthly reports of engineers in charge of timber-testing laboratories, and of reports to cooperators in timber tests. Timber Treatment (monthly). — Copies of monthly reports of engi- neers in charge of treating plants, and of reports to cooperators in timber treatment. General (monthly). — A brief progress report upon Market Studies and upon other investigations not conducted in timber-testing lab- oratories or treating plants. WASHINGTON. OFFICE OF THE FORESTER. DUTIES. The administration of the Forest Service, and the supervision of lines of work conducted in the Office of the Forester. LAW. DUTIES. General supervision, through the District Forester, of the policy and methods of Law in District Offices; legal advice to members of the Washington Office; approval of legal forms, documents, and correspondence ; and the handling, in cooperation with other Depart- ments and Bureaus, of appellate proceedings in litigated cases; and of applications for rights of way under the wrong act. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 85 ROUTINE. . Advice. The routine prescribed for District Offices will be followed, except that a copy of each formal memorandum will be sent to each Dis- trict Forester. Copies of formal memoranda received from District Offices will be filed by subject designation and number. Approval of Legal Forms, etc. The routine for approval of legal documents and correspondence will follow that prescribed for District Offices. All legal forms used in Washington and in District Offices, and proposed changes, must be approved by the Law Officer, both for use and for inclusion in the Legal Form Book. The use of any form withdrawn by the Law Officer from the Legal Form Book will be discontinued. OPERATION. DUTIES. The general control, through the District Forester, of the policy and methods of the District Offices of Operation, and the supervision of the Offices of Occupancy, Accounts, Geography, and Maintenance. OCCUPANCY. Duties. Review and final action upon the recommendation of the Districts regarding boundary projects, and recommendations to the Depart- ment of the Interior. Forwarding to the District Forester notices of withdrawal re- ceived from the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Forwarding to the District Forester of applications for Forest homesteads addressed in error to Washington, and transmitting to the District Forester notices from the Commissioner of the General Land Office that tracts have been declared open to entry. Preparation for approval of Class “ a ” and “ d ” permits, of stipu- lations in Interior Department railroad cases, and of recordmenda- tions approving the latter to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Routine. BOUNDARIES. Boundary projects submitted to the Forester will, with all corre- spondence involved, be referred to the District Office for recommen- dation. Upon receipt of the recommendation of the District Forester and accompanying papers, a proclamation diagram will be prepared, using the type and title maps as a basis. Two copies and the original of the proclamation and of the diagram will be sent to the Commis- sioner of the General Land Office. If a withdrawal or release is 86 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. recommended, the recommendation and diagram only will be for- warded to the Commissioner. Upon receipt of notice of signature of the proclamation by the President, the District office will be notified by wire. Upon receipt of printed proclamations from the State Depart- ment, a sufficient number will be forwarded to the Districts for dis- tribution. All maps, petitions, and other papers transmitted to the Forester with recommendations on boundary projects will, after final action is taken, be returned for the District files. Boundary projects will be recorded by card index (Form 137), which will be filed by Forests. CLAIMS. Bequests for report and recommendations on claims received from the Commissioner of the General Land Office and notices of hearing and of final action will be forwarded to District offices. SPECIAL USES. Bequests for permits and applications for rights of way in Interior Department cases will be referred to the District Forester. The necessary carbons in Interior Department railroad cases will be prepared, and three blueprints will be made, one for Washington, one for the District, and one for the Supervisor. Interior Department cases in which a right of way is sought under the wrong act will be handled by the Law Officer. Index cards for Class “ a ” and “ d ” permits and Interior Depart- ment railroad cases will be filed as prescribed for the District office. ACCOUNTS. Duties. The Washington office will constitute a District for accounting pur- poses, and in addition will keep the accounts of the Forest Service under appropriations, will compile its fiscal statements, and will com- bine all District fiscal statements into summarized reports to the F orester. Routine. APPROPRIATION LEDGER. An account with. each appropriation will be kept on sheets (Form 11), whose sources and classes of entries will be as follows: DEBIT. (From Forester’s letters of allotment.) The allotments to Districts and changes therein, and the Forester’s contingent fund. CREDIT. (From Treasury appropriation war- rants.) The amount of the appro- priation. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 87 GENERAL ALLOTMENT LEDGER. A separate account will be kept on sheets (Form 12) of each allot- ment to each District from each appropriation, whose sources and classes of entries will be as follows : DEBIT. In Allotment Column. (From Forester’s letters of allotment.) The allotment to the District and changes therein. Decreases will be entered in red ink. In Deposits Column. (From requisitions for funds.) The amounts approved for deposit to the credit of the District Fiscal Agent and his Special Disbursing Agents. These entries will be verified by comparison with the Treasurer’s no- tification of warrant issued, and will be completed by entry of the war- rant number. (From Treasury Settlement notices.) The amounts withdrawn from the appropriation to cover claims set- : tied. CREDIT. In Disbursement Column. Quarterly (from Accounts Current of the District Fiscal Agent and his Special Disbursing Agents). The disbursements. (From Treasury Settlement notices.) The claims settled. A trial balance of the General Allotment Ledger will be made quarterly after the receipt and entry of the Accounts Current, which will show for each account the net allotment, the total of approved requisitions and Treasury Settlements, and the total of disbursements and claims settled by the Treasury. The trial balance will supply for any District or for the Service as a whole the amount still available in the Treasury and the amount to the credit of all disbursing officers. TREASURY SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS. Notices of Treasury settlements will be entered in the General Allotment Ledger as a debit to funds drawn from the appropriation and as a credit by disbursements. The notices will then be forwarded to the District Fiscal Agent concerned. REQUISITIONS FOR FUNDS. As requisitions for funds to be placed to the credit of District Fiscal Agents and special Disbursing Agents are received they will be examined to see that they do not exceed the amount available in the Treasury, the amount allotted to the District by the Forester, and the amounts available under the bonds of the disbursing officers. 88 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. The requisitions will then be entered in the General Allotment Ledger, and will be initialed and forwarded to the Chief of the Division of Accounts and Disbursements of the Department of Agriculture. Notices of Warrants Issued.— The notices of warrants issued by the Treasury when received from the Chief of the Division of Ac- counts and Disbursements of the Department of Agriculture will be checked against the requisitions previously entered in the General Al- lotment Ledger. The warrant numbers will be entered and the notices sent to the District Fiscal Agent concerned. ACCOUNTS CURRENT. The disbursements in each District under each appropriation will be entered in the General Allotment Ledger from the quarterly Ac- counts Current. The Accounts Current and the accompanying abstracts and vouchers will then be forwarded through the Division of Accounts and Disbursements of the Department of Agriculture to the Treasury for settlement. MONTHLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. The monthly Financial Statements from the Districts will be con- solidated on Form 279. APPOINTMENTS. Letters to the Secretary of Agriculture recommending appoint- ments or other, action affecting salary status prepared in District offices will be signed by the Forester. If any changes are made a new letter will be written with two carbons, and one sent to the District Forester concerned. Appointments and other orders of the Secretary of Agriculture affecting District personnel will be sent to the District Forester concerned. LITTLEFIELD REPORT. Littlefield Reports (Form 170) received from the Districts will be summarized in duplicate on the same form. The cards (Form 250 and 278), after being checked against the accompanying sheets and the additions verified, will each be assembled alphabetically under appropriations. Payments to the same person under the same appro- priation in different Districts will be consolidated. Separate ab- stracts of Forms 250 and 278 will be prepared in duplicate, and with the accompanying sheets (Form 170) will be submitted to the Secre- tary of Agriculture. MANUAL OE PROCEDURE. 89 RECEIPTS. As monthly Reports of Receipts and of Refunds (Form 27) are received from Districts, the items will be entered upon Forms 28 (Forest Receipts, Forest Summary, Class Summary, and District Summary Cards). The net receipts will then be calculated and en- tered. By comparison with the figures for the same month of the preceding fiscal year the amount and percentage of increase or de- crease in gross receipts will be entered. AUTHORIZATIONS FOR ADVERTISING. Letters of authorization of the Secretary of Agriculture to Super- visors to advertise in certain papers will be compared with the copy of the Forester’s letters of recommendation, held in a waiting file in Accounts, when both original and duplicate letters of authorization will be sent to the District Forester concerned. GEOGRAPHY. Duties. The compilation for publication of the Forest Atlas, and the exe- cution of all drafting and status work required in Washington, and of all laboratory work in photography required by the Forest Service, except blueprinting done in District offices. Routine. atlas. Data compiled in District offices, data furnished in Washington, and monthly reports on entries from the General Land Office will be posted in the Forest Atlas. In cooperation with the United States Geological Survey, revised Atlas sheets will be compiled for publication. ALIENATION. Geography will upon requisition procure from the records of the General Land Office status data not given in the Forest Atlas re- quired in Washington. As monthly reports of entries are received from the General Land Office, they will be forwarded to the District office and posted upon the Forest Atlas. DRAFTING. Geography will execute all drafting required in Washington, upon requisition approved by the Geographer. 90 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. PHOTOGRAPHY. Photography will fill requests from the Districts and from Wash- ington for films and for developing, printing, and other photographic work, and for blueprinting required in Washington. Bequests will be made on Form 988, and approved by the Chief of the office con- cerned. Photography will keep on Form 194 a current record of photographic work by classes. MAINTENANCE. Duties. Maintenance will perform the same duties as those prescribed for the Section of Maintenance in District offices. Routine. The routine of the equipment and maintenance of quarters, of assistance in stenography and typewriting, and of handling mail and files will be the same as that prescribed for Maintenance in District offices. The Chief of Maintenance in Washington, under an annual allot- ment from the Forester, will keep in stock stationery, office supplies, instruments, and field equipment for the use of members with head- quarters in Washington, and of all other members of the Service out- side the District organization. This stock will be maintained through requisition direct upon the Purchasing Agent, instead of through requisition on the Property Clerk at Ogden, as provided for Mainte- nance in District offices. SILVICULTURE. DUTIES. The general control, through the District Foresters, of the policy and methods of Silviculture in District Offices, and the supervision of the Offices of Federal Cooperation, State and Private Cooperation, and Silvics. ROUTINE. Cooperation. The Offices of Federal Cooperation and State and Private Coop- eration will follow in their cooperative work outside the Districts the routine prescribed for similar lines of work under Timber Sales and Planting in the District organization. Silvics. Compiled silvical data ydll be filed by species. A file will also be maintained by National Forests, for copies of reports upon species occurring upon them, or cross references to reports on these species. MANUAL 03? PROCEDURE. 91 LIBRARY. Boohs for use in W ashing ton. — Requisitions for books from the Department Library will be made in duplicate on the card form pro- vided, and the duplicate filed in a waiting file alphabetically by author, until the requisition is filled, and then destroyed. Subject and author catalogue cards will be filled out and filed alphabetically and a shelf-list card filled out and filed numerically for each book received. When a book is loaned a charge card (Form 172) will be signed by the borrower, the date entered, and the card filed alphabetically by author. A charge card (Form 185) will be filled out and filed alphabetically by name of borrower. When a book is returned the date will be entered on Form 172 over the signature of the borrower, and on Form 185, the former returned to the book pocket and the latter to the file. The file of charge cards (Form 185) will be ex- amined on the first of each month and those who have had books over a month will be notified. Copies of the quarterly list of new books in the Department Li- brary, and of the monthly list of additions to the Forest Service Library, will be sent to each District Office. Boohs for District and Supervisors' Offices. — Form 668 will be prepared in duplicate as a requisition for the purchase of books for District and Supervisors’ Offices, the original sent to the Purchasing Clerk and the duplicate filed chronologically in a waiting file until the requisition is filled, and then destroyed. Books will be receipted for on Form 939a, given the Department Library number, if any, or otherwise numbered in accordance with the Department Library system. Subject and author catalogue cards will be made out in duplicate, the original retained, and the duplicates sent to the District Office with the book. Forms 172 and 185 will be filled out and the latter sent to the District Office for return and filing. Annually at the beginning of each calendar year a list of books charged to each District Office will be sent in duplicate to the District Forester, who will approve one copy and return it to Washington. Periodicals. — The receipt and filing of periodicals will be as pre- scribed for District Offices. Catalogue cards will be filled out and filed and periodicals loaned as described under “ Books for use in Washington,” except that they will be classified by subject and title and Form 172 will be filed by title. Photographs. — As received, photographic notebooks will be ar- ranged serially and an index card filled out and filed alphabetically by author. 92 MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. As mounted photographs are received entries will be made on the back from the notebook in which the collection number given the photograph will be entered. The photographs will then be classified by State and subject and catalogue cards filled out and filed by subjects. Lantern Slides . — The Chief of Silvics will approve the loan of lantern slides, which will be classified and catalogued like photographs. Borrowed lantern slides will be receipted for on Form 988 which will be filed alphabetically by name of borrower. As slides are returned Form 988 will be stamped “ Returned.” GRAZING. DUTIES. The general control, through the District Forester, of the policy and methods of Grazing in the Districts, including the determination of allowances, periods, and rates, and action upon appeals from the decision of the District Forester. ROUTINE. Grazing Authorizations. Upon receipt of each Supervisor’s annual grazing report from the District Forester a letter of authorization will be submitted for approval by the Secretary of Agriculture. When the letter is re- turned approved a letter with one carbon will be sent to the District Forester, informing him of the authorization approved by the Secretary and of the periods, rates, and special rulings established for the Forest. Federal and State Quarantine Regulations. At the beginning of every grazing season a statement will be obtained from the Bureau of Animal Industry and forwarded to District Foresters, of the quarantine and inspection work proposed in each district, with the names and addresses of the inspectors in charge. National Game Preserves. Copies of all proclamations establishing National Game Preserves will be sent to the District Forester concerned. Upon receipt from him of draft of proposed regulations it will be reviewed and submit- ted to the Secretary of Agriculture for approval. A copy of the regu- lations as approved will be sent to the District Forester. MANUAL OF PROCEDURE. 98 Appeal from District Forester’s Grazing Decisions. Upon receipt of all papers in an appeal from a decision of the Dis- trict Forester, the case will be reviewed, decision made, and the Dis- trict Forester notified. PRODUCTS. DUTIES. The general control of the policy and methods of Products in the Districts, the supervision of the Office of Publication, and the super- vision of the Offices of Wood Utilization and Wood Preservation, whose routine will follow that prescribed for these lines of work in the Districts, and whose results so far as applicable will be made available for use in the Districts. O '