“’Only the Government Can Do It:’ Assessing the Role of the United States Forest Service Under the United States Department of Agriculture

This essay is part of a collection titled Reflections on One Hundred and Fifty Years of the United States Department of Agriculture In 1905 the United States Forest Service outlined the regulations and management practices of the National Forest Reserves. Since the forests had just recently come under their jurisdiction, the pocket- sized document known as the Use Book served to advise forest rangers and administrative personnel as to how to address the com- plex issues involved with oversight of reserve lands. For instance, the book included considerable information on forest fire prevention. Fire, according to the Forest Service, was a phenomenon that could not be handled by single states alone. The phrase only the government can do it signaled the new expertise and claims of this federal agency