Excerpt from The Book of Forestry The American people are by inheritance a nation of forest butchers. Possessing a continent originally endowed with superb forests, unequalled in any part of the globe, the three hundred years which have passed since the Colonists landed upon the Atlantic Coast have seen the area of our forests diminished by acres, while the contents have been reduced to less than half. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

It is the rare book that remains in print for nearly fifty years, earning wide acclaim as a classic. The Forest Ranger has been essential reading for generations of professionals and scholars in forestry, public administration, and organizational behavior who are interested in the administration of public lands and how the top managers of a large, dispersed organization with multiple objectives like the Forest Service shape the behavior of its field officers into a coherent, unified program. Published as a special reprint in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service, The Forest Ranger is as relevant and timely today as when it was first issued in 1960. In addition to the original text, this special reprint of The Forest Ranger includes two new forewords and an afterword that highlight how much we have learned from Herbert Kaufman. The first foreword, by Harold K. (Pete) Steen, former president of the Forest History Society, considers the book's impact on the forestry community and explains its continued relevance in light of changes in the culture and mission of today's Forest Service. The second, by Richard P. Nathan, codirector of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, considers the book's contribution to our understanding of administrative and organizational behavior. The new afterword by author Herbert Kaufman describes how his landmark study came into being and offers a candid assessment of how his theories about the agency's operations and its future have held up over time. In 1960, the Forest Service had a well-deserved reputation for excellence, and The Forest Ranger was a seminal analysis of the hows and whys of its success. Kaufmanalso warned, however, that an organization so unified and well adapted to its environment would have difficulties navigating social change. He was right in his concerns: the environmental, civil rights, and women's movements have all presented challenges to the character and purpose of the Forest Service, ultimately changing the organization in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Now, as then, The Forest Ranger is a striking and prescient case study of how a complex organization operates and evolves over time.

"The Forest of Valancourt is the story of young Lucien, who sets out to find his origins and prove himself worthy of the love of the young countess Adelaide. But he gets more than he bargained for when he saves the life of a man who proves to be his father, and who denounces Lucien to the Inquisition! Imprisoned in a dungeon and threatened with horrible torture, can Lucien escape his terrible fate and discover the truth behind his father's past? The Forest of Valancourt is the first title in a new set of limited edition hardcover reprints of the rarest of Gothic novels. While our Gothic Classics series reprints rare titles in paperback editions, these limited edition hardcovers are the rarest of the rare, books of which only one or two copies exist in the world. Only one copy of The Forest of Valancourt has survived; that copy is held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. The Valancourt Books edition is newly typeset from that copy in an attractive cloth-bound edition with dust jacket, giving modern readers the opportunity to own a copy of this extremely rare work."--Publisher's website.

The U.S. Forest Service celebrates its centennial in 2005. With a new preface by the author, this edition of Harold K. Steen’s classic history (originally published in 1976) provides a broad perspective on the Service’s administrative and policy controversies and successes. Steen updates the book with discussions of a number of recent concerns, among them the spotted owl issue; wilderness and roadless areas; new research on habitat, biodiversity, and fire prevention; below-cost timber sales; and workplace diversity in a male-oriented field.