The evolution of the USDA Forest Service is rooted in the General Provision Act of 1891 in which Congress authorized the President to designate particular areas of the forested public domain to be set aside as "reserves" for future use. The number and size of these reserves increased notably in 1897 when the President was authorized to establish reserves in order to protect watersheds, to preserve timber, and to provide lumber for local use. On February 1, 1905, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson announced the transfer of the Forest Reserves to the Department of Agriculture, as authorized by Congress (H.R. 8460). In 1908, Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot appointed Arthur C. Ringland the first District Forester of the newly organized Southwestern District, or District 3. The district comprised New Mexico's 311,040 acre Pecos River Forest Reserve, established in 1892, as well as the Prescott, Gila River, and Santa Rita Forest Reserves, encompassing millions of acres. Region 3, as the Southwestern district has been known since 1930, encompasses some 21 million acres of public lands in Arizona and New Mexico. Twelve national forests make up the region. In May 1983, Intaglio, Inc. of College Station, Texas, was contracted by the USDA Forest Service to conduct research and to write a history of Region 3. Timeless heritage: a history of the Forest Service in the Southwest, authored by Robert D. Baker, Henry C. Dethloff, Robert S. Maxwell, and Victor H. Treat, was published in August 1988.
From the guide to the History of the Forest Service in the Southwest Photograph Collection, 1930-1960, (University of New Mexico, Center for Southwest Research)
