Can You Pass the 1908 Forest Ranger Exam?

The qualifications for being a forest ranger for the fledging US Forest Service are listed below. If you fit the bill you then would have to pass the forest ranger exam. Would they have hired you?

For more on the history of the US Forest Service visit the Forest History Society's online archives at www.lib.duke.edu/forest/. 

Ranger Qualifications. The following description of forest ranger qualifications is taken from "The Statesmanship of Forestry" by Arthur W. Page (The World's Work, January 1908, p. 9757). 

The "Use Book," which is a kind of Bible for the [Forest] Service, gives the following qualifications for the position of ranger. The applicant must be: 

"... thoroughly sound and able-bodied, capable of enduring hardships and of performing severe labor under trying conditions. He must be able to take care of himself and his horse in regions remote from settlement and supplies. He must be able to build trails and cabins, ride, pack, and deal tactfully with all classes of people. He must know something of land surveying, estimating and scaling timber, logging, land laws, mining, and the live-stock business. 

"On some forests the ranger must be a specialist in one or more of these lines of work. Thorough familiarity with the region in which he seeks employment, including its geography and its forest and industrial conditions is usually demanded, lack of this may be supplied by experience in similar regions. Invalids seeking light out-of-doors employment need not apply. Experience, not book education, is sought, although ability to make simple maps and write intelligent reports upon ordinary forest business is essential. 

"For duty in Arizona and New Mexico the ranger must know enough Spanish to conduct forest business with Mexicans."

The extraordinary thing is that most of the rangers had these accomplishments. As versatile as " 'Er Majesty's Jollies," they can fill any position, from diplomat to cook. And in all its fullness, the "Use Book" does not tell half the things a ranger did. It does not mention fighting fire hour after hour without food or water, nor swimming the raging flood of a Western river, nor smiling into the barrel of a loaded gun in the hands of a crazy man, while a comrade slips around through the brush to disarm the lunatic; yet those things and many more fell to the ranger's lot. There were eleven of them who did nothing but hunt wolves. One followed for three days the trail of an old bear that had been killing stock. When finally caught, it showed fight and died with fourteen bullets in it, less than six feet from the ranger. It weighed 800 pounds. The rangers had that perfect control of horse and gun and the mastery of natural obstacles which were the pride of the "cow-puncher" and the same keen sense of humor. And they are men of character. There is was esprit de corps among them and a pride in their work that made them intolerant of anyone who brought discredit to the [Forest] Service or them. There was only one thing that threatened the efficiency of the ranger force. The pay was so low that in some localities it was hard to get good men and in a few places, it was hard to get a full force of any kind of men.

Now take the test!

Series No. 4; Apr., 1908 

UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE -- FOREST RANGER EXAMINATION.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Competitor must fill these blanks. 
Time commenced:
Date:
Examination No.:
Time finished:
Place of Examination:

Do not write on this sheet. Blank sheets will be furnished for the answers to the questions hereon. Number answers to correspond with numbers of questions. 

Number consecutively the sheets of answers to questions hereon, and write in the following spaces the total number of such attached sheets: Number of sheets: 

RATING: 

FIRST SUBJECT -- PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. (Two sheets.)

Question 1. On what Forest, or Forests, do you desire appointment as a Forest Ranger? Give general description of one of these Forests describing (a) topography, or lay of the country; (b) the kind of Forest, giving the common names of principal merchantable trees; (c) the logging operations, their extent and importance; (d) the stock industry, showing the extent and nature of the range; (e) the principal settlements in or near the Forest. (f) In your opinion what was the main reason for creating this Forest? 

Question 2. (a) Describe in detail logging in a locality with which you are familiar, covering all operation, from felling the tree to delivery of logs at the sawmill, using all ordinary names applied to the men, operations, and implements. (b) Describe a sawmill with which you are familiar and describe how the logs are made into lumber. 

Question 3. What are the ordinary specifications of railroad ties, mining stull, lagging, fence posts? What is a cord of wood? A board foot? How are telephone poles generally measured? How are logs scaled? Name a log scale in common use in your locality and give the contents of logs of the following sizes by this scale: 

    16 feet long and 26 inches in diameter small end 
    18 feet long and 30 inches in diameter small end 
    24 feet long and 18 inches in diameter small end 
    12 feet long and 15 inches in diameter small end 

Question 4. What are the dimensions of a township? Section? Quarter section? A forty? A square acre? How many links in a surveyor's chain? How many feet? How many chains in a mile? How many acres in a tract of land 600 feet wide by 3960 feet long? 

Question 5. State how you would construct a 14 by 18-foot log cabin? Give the amount of material necessary and approximate cost of construction. 

Question 6. (a) Enumerate the articles of food and give the amount of each which you would take with you on a two-weeks' trip in August, considering that you were entirely dependent on the supplies you took with you. (b) How many pounds can the average horse pack for six consecutive days, making 15 miles per day? How many pounds can the average man pack under the same conditions? 

Question 7. (a) Describe a method of handling range cattle in a district with which you are familiar. Range sheep. (b) Describe by diagram four brands and four earmarks and give the name by which each is known. 

Question 8. What constitutes valid residence on a homestead claim? What are the improvement and cultivation requirements and under what conditions can patent be obtained under the timber and stone act, the desert land act, and the placer mining laws? 

Question 9. How and for what purposes are National Forests created? How do they affect the water flow, agriculture, lumbering, grazing, and mining? 

Question 10. What are the chief duties of a Forest Ranger? Give a plan for protecting a specified tract of land against fire. How would you fight a fire on this tract if it had a good start? 

Sheet 3. 

The examiner must fill these blanks. 
Date of examination:
Place of examination:
Examination number:
Name of competitor:
Address of competitor:

SECOND SUBJECT -- FIELD TEST

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE EXAMINER.-- Under "Ratings" the examiner will give the rating to which, in his opinion, the competitor is entitled in each test, considering the fitness of the competitor, skill, and ability shown, on the following basis:

Very poor, 40% or less
Poor, 50%
Tolerable, 60%
Fair, 70%
Good, 80%
Excellent, 90%
Perfect, 100%

Under "Remarks" the reasons for very high or very low ratings should be given, and any facts noted which may bear upon the rating given or affect the value of the competitor's service to the Government. 

Question 1. Saddle and bridle a horse. Ride a quarter of a mile and return (a) at a trot, (b) at a gallop. Time and manner of saddling and unsaddling to be taken into consideration by the examiner. 

Question 2. Pack a horse with a tent, two blankets, one-man cook outfit, axe, and shovel, and sufficient grain or provisions to make an entire pack weigh 150 pounds. No paniers to be used. Any satisfactory hitch to be accepted. (Rate on familiarity, neatness, and dispatch, and also experience as determined by oral questions. Competitors should not be allowed to watch the examination of other competitors.) 

Question 3. Estimate by pacing, the distance around a triangular tract of not less than one-half mile, giving the distance in rods, yards, and feet. (After all estimates have been submitted examiner will measure exact distance with tape or chain. The route should not be less than one-half mile in length.) 

Question 4. Set up a compass, and allowing for the variation given by the examining officer, indicate east, north 25 degrees west, south 50 degrees east. Take the bearing of a designated object and give the compass reading. (Allow only a reasonable length of time for the applicant to complete this test. Rate on quickness, accuracy, familiarity, and experience as determined by oral questions. No competitor should be allowed to watch the examination of other competitors.) 

Question 5. Run a compass line around a designated area and read and record the courses, allowing for the variation as given by the examining officer. (Lay out a five-sided irregular figure, with sides between 100 and 200 feet in length, setting proper poles or stakes at each angle. Allow only a reasonable length of time for the applicant to complete this test. Rate on quickness, accuracy, familiarity, and experience as determined by oral questions. No competitor should be allowed to watch the examination of other competitors.) 

I hereby certify that the above-named competitor neither gave nor received assistance during his examination, and that ratings given by me are equitable and just, to the best of my knowledge and belief, 

(Signature of examiner) ________________________________
Date ____________, 190__ 
(Title) _____________________________________________