University of Idaho School of Forestry - Forester Yearbook (Moscow, ID)

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AN ADDRESS TO THE ASSOCIATED FORESTERS GEORGE M. FISHER, '33 Delivered at the Bonfire Meeting at Price Green, October, 1932 Mr. President and Associated Foresters of the University of Idaho: NO DOUBT everyone here, with the possible exception of the freshmen, knows what an honorary fraternity or society is. Existence of such an organization in our School of Forestry is evident, but some of you know very little more than that. I have recollec- tions of reading in the catalog about such an honor society when I was a freshman in the University. But it was not until my sopho- more year that I fully realized what the or- ganization meant, what the functions of the group were, and how admission was possible. Xi Sigma Pi, National Forestry Honor Fra- ternity, stands for an honor society in every sense of the word. It is a distinct honor to our institution and is based upon the very highest of standards which are recognized in our For- estry School. It is an honor to the profession of forestry because its representation is select- ed with much care in regard to the active for- estry profession and is composed almost 100 per cent of men now engaged and holding high positions in this chosen field. It is an honor to the individual when he is recognized and chosen for membership. I think I am right in stating that no one ever received membership in Xi Sigma Pi who did not earnestly work for it and did not feel that after he had received this honor that it was indeed another victory won. MEMBERSHIP IMPORTANT The organization has grown up with the field of forestry. Established in 1908 at our neighboring institution, the University of Washington, it has now a membership of almost 1000 and has eight chapters represent- ed in the country's finest forestry schools. This membership figure means considerable as there are not very many thousands of men at the present engaged in forest activities. A further comparison is possible when it is known there are roughly 2500 members of the Society of American Foresters, the largest group of pro- fessional foresters in our country. The local chapter at Idaho has been in exist- ence 12 years, the charter having been granted in 1920. It has steadily grown in importance in our school, having one of the strongest alumnae chapters in the fraternity, as well as one of the best represented in the profession. At the end of last year the active resident membership of Idaho Epsilon Chapter was 19. This fall the group is represented by 16 actives. The objects of the fraternity are: 1. To se- cure and maintain a high standard of scholar- ship in forest education. 2. To work for the upbuilding of the profession of forestry. 3. To promote fraternal relations among earnest workers engaged in forest activities. SCHOLARSHIP ESSENTIAL You will see from this that recognition of membership by the group would be based on scholarship, activity in forestry work, and true professional interest. The eligibility re- quirements are high and stand among the top in relation to other existing societies. But they are high for a purpose. It is necessary to maintain forest school standards and pro- fessional forestry on par with the best of other professions. Also an honor difficult to attain and worth working hard for is much more valued and appreciated after such an honor is obtained. Three-fourths of all the grades a student makes during his college course must be B or better or in other words above 80 per cent. Second semester junior standing is necessary except in a few cases where a limited number of students of excep- tional ability may be pledged during their first semester of the junior year. A failure in any forestry subject completely rejects the student from membership. Faculty members and graduate students with the necessary high scholastic records coming from institutions that do not have a chapter of Xi Sigma Pi are eligible for membership. Now this leads up to one thought I wish to get across to the new students tonight. Start right now working toward a member- ship inthe fraternity. It may not seem urgent at this time but it is most important. When you get to be sophomores and juniors and re- alize that you would like to be a member of Xi Sigma Pi, and what it may mean to you, it might be too late. An eligiblity requirement of '75 per cent B and better is hard to make and it is mighty important that you start working for this in your first year of school. Let me give exact Hgures to explain what I mean. HIGH GRADES FIRST YEAR IMPORTANT The average student in the forestry school carries 18 credit hours each semester or 36 a year. If the student completes 20 hours of work B and better the Hrst year, which is above the average, this gives him 5516 per cent above C. But even then the following year this student must make all but two hours of this 36 earned his second year, B and better, to be eligible for Xi Sigma Pi with a '75 per cent. How many do this? The thing to do is work for good grades and get interested in scholarship your first year in school. It is lContinued on page 52l 45

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44 THE IDAHO FORESTER ground control were not established perman- ently and there is no prospect of utilizing the topography in detail when the final location is made. The question at once arises as to how ex- tensive the ground control should be. The results obtained on the Lochsa would seem to indicate that they should either be more than was used or less. If the ground control had been placed in the form of a preliminary and have had the points well established, the projected line could have been located without the necessity of additional preliminary or topographic work. If less work had been placed upon the ground control by using existing maps and ele- vations and building up a map that would ad- mittedly contain some variations in course and elevation, the map in that case would have had about the same preliminary value and the field control would have cost nothing. As the matter stands now, there is no ready manner by which to place the paper projection on the ground as a located line. When the line is located, a preliminary line and a working strip of topography, as well as a new projec- tion of the line, will be required. The present work and map, therefore, is limited to pre- liminary and general purposes. Two PHASES OF TWORK This situation is no reflection upon the aerial surveys but the recitation of a result due to occupying an intermediate position. This develops the fact that aerial mapping and topography divides itself into two classes. One class for preliminary estimate purposes and one for final detail work. These two classes vary in value in proportion to the scale of the map, and the accuracy, class and permanency of the ground control. The cost varies in a similar ratio and their desirability in propor- tion to their cost as compared to that of the usual ground survey costs when supplemented by aerial photographs. SCALE or MAP VARIES WITH COUNTRY The Lochsa River aerial map was made on a scale of 500 feet to the inch and the contour interval was ten feet. For a country as difli- cult as that through which the river passes, that scale is too small to permit the projecting of a close final line. A final ground map to a scale of one hundred feet to the inch will be required over the strip that will be occupied by the highway, This aerial map then falls within the preliminary class and as such, the necessity for refinements in the quality of the ground control were not vitally essential, and could have been heavily curtailed without af- fecting the net value of the projection and estimate made upon the map. The quality of the ground control should Nora: Mr. G. E. McKelvey is Commissioner of Public Evorlisl zrncl Mr. J. H. Steuimer is Director of Highways or r a io. vary in proportion to the scale of the map. The scale of the map should vary in propor- tion to the roughness of the country. The price of the map can equal the price of a ground preliminary and topography on one line plus a reasonable amount for the increased scope of the information. The aerial map, however, has an outstand- ing advantage in utility over the ground map by reason of its greater scope and detail. In addition, increased width in the topography to include both sides and the slopes above a river does not increase the cost proportionally for the reason that no additional flying is re- quired and little more ground control. On ground surveys, additional preliminary and base lines would be required for expansion of the area and for alternate propositions. The ground map usually covers a limited strip. The suiiiciency of this strip is determined by the individual upon the ground and there is little opportunity to study alternatives and to guard against oversights. The flexibility and completeness of aerial survey information, its diversity of use and the ready expansion of topographic area, makes it a more positive and complete source of understanding than the usual ground methods. The enhanced value of the results and the safeguards in judgment that it affords makes it a better dollar for dollar investment and justifies a greater gross expenditure than ground work because it is very evident that the ultimate net economic cost will be less. Appreciation The editorial staff of The IDAHO FORESTER is grateful to the contributors for their part in the publication of this issue. The staff also acknowledges the co-operation of several agen- cies in supplying certain cuts. The University of Idaho Publicity Department supplied the cut appearing on page 41. The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho, publishers of this year's edition, furnished the cuts on pages 1, 2, and 6, and supplied the art work for the hand lettered heading of The IDAHO FORESTER appearing on page 3. Time Flies A green fire fighter was aroused from his slumbers at 3:00 a. m. to begin the day's rou- tine. Getting ready for breakfast he was heard to say, It sure doesn't take long to spend a night in this country. During his youth he was a knotty problem, but his father was a lumberman, therefore he was a chip off the old block.

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46 The Benehtsand Serdces Rendered By the National Forests of the State of Idaho fContinued from page 101 ber is to provide the material for consumers throughout the nation, nevertheless the bene- fits to the local state and its people are so great and of such vast service to them that, were the federal government not carrying the task, the state itself or its counties would be virtually forced to undertake the effort, to far larger extent than now, to protect the pros- perity of a large portion of its people. MANY DEPEND ON WATERSHEDS The other basic purpose of the national forests is watershed protectiong the stabiliza- tion of waterflow and the prevention of ero- sion. How vital is water in Idaho for irriga- tion is well known and attested to by the fact that of over forty thousand farms in the state about 60 per cent Ccomprising 55 per cent of the improved acreagej are irrigated. Over EB90,000,000,000 has been spent in irrigation works. Idaho's streams are capable of generat- ing 2,000,000 horse power, although it should be borne in mind that not all this horsepower will be developed in the state for a great many years. Virtually all streams of importance for irri- gation or for power have their source among the high forested slopes within the national forests. Despite the fact that no abuse of the mountain watersheds could wholly destroy this resource, the loss of the timber or other plant cover might result in depreciating a large part of a value. Height and duration of Hoods would be accentuated and the much needed water during the irrigation period would be much reduced. Erosion from barren hillsides would result in silting up reservoirs and canals, making their maintenance more ex- pensive. The goVernment's eiorts in the na- tional forests in preventing forest fires, over- grazing, and the thoughtless cutting of timber safeguard these watersheds against the ef- fects of such mistreatment. The farms and the water power developments have indeed a considerable interest in the national forests and are rendered an enormous service through the federal government's safeguarding of their benefits. GRAZING RESOURCES VITAL Intermingled with the forest-producing land and integrally a part of them, particularly in the national forests in the southern part of the state, are lands carrying forage values of con- siderable utility. These forage resources are handled under the same general policies of constructive and conservative use that are ap- plicable to the timber. Thus is insured a per- manent production of range feed upon which THE IDAHO FORESTER the welfare of many a livestock producer is heavily dependent. Furthermore, by the sys- tem of preferences that is established under Forest Service policies the smaller stockmen have equal opportunity with the larger and more powerful, for finding range for their stock. Constancy and stability in the number of stock permitted, based upon the output ca- pacity of the land, is a further benefit to the stockmen so they can plan ahead with rea- sonable conidence on their livestock produc- tion operations. For the convenience and economy of opera- tion of the range users the government is con- tinually improving the range facilities through such activities as driveway construction, water developments, rodent and poison plant eradi- cation, and drift fence construction, things that no individual could undertake but which redound very greatly to those who obtain an- nually in the neighborhood of 3500 permits to use the range. It is commonly agreed among stockmen and land use students that some control of the open range is essential. Experience has shown that not otherwise can the public range be pro- tected from the first-come-first-served scramble for its resources with consequent overgrazing and rapid deterioration of great injury finally to all users. Many of these range lands are of such character that it is very questionable whether they would have gone into private ownership and remained there, interest on in- vestment and tax charges being considered. They would then have remained public domain range subject to all the abuse that the remain- ing public domain range meets in most of the western states. GRAZING FEES Low It is to be noted also that the fees charged by the government for range per head are low compared to the fees very generally charged on private lands of similar range character, and much below the usual cost per head that a stock producer would have to bear in the event he owned his own land, oftentimes the cost per head of government range is less than the cost per head of the taxes alone on pri- vately owned lands. One cannot help but note that in spite of appeals for grazing fee re- ductions from livestock men in many quarters who are using national forest ranges, the fact that they are getting the range at less cost than they would probably through any other ownership, coupled with the marked advan- tages of the government methods of range use control, has resulted in national forest graz- ing users so Well satisfied that they have in many an instance urged the extension of na- tional forest range control to other public do- main range lands. How important an element are the national forest ranges in the livestock-producing busi- ness of the state is evident by the fact that over 60 per cent of the 2,275,000 sheep and