Fire and Water

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Fire and Water combines perceptive discussion of United States Forest Service procedures with analysis of fundamental problems in the relationship of research to administration. The author shows that the Forest Service has, in the past, been slow to test new ideas and to put the results of research into practice. Analyzing two major instances where progress has lagged—the use of controlled burning and of forests in flood prevention—he correlates these failures with simultaneous research and action-program administration, and argues for separation of functions. His book has basic relevance in science and in public administration.