Appointment of Percy E. Melis, Window Rock, Arizona, as Chief of the Indian Bureau’s Branch of Forest and Range Management, to replace Leroy D. Arnold who retired on July 31, 1953, was announced by Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay.
Mr. Melis has had many years of experience in forest and range management work in the Bureau and other Federal agencies. He has been forester in charge of range management at Window Rock area since July 7, 1952.
Nearly 50 million acres of Indian forest and rangelands are held in trust by the Federal Government. These lands provide an annual production of about 600 million board feet of timber on a sustained yield basis and grazing for approximately 975,000 cattle units of livestock in accordance with the principles of conservation.
Mr. Melis was born in Hist, Oregon, August 1, 1898, and was graduated from Oregon State College in 1924 with a B.S. degree in logging engineering. During summer vacations, he was employed in forestry work at the Klamath and Warm Spring Agencies in Oregon and with the Forest Service at Portland, Oregon.
He had held various forestry positions in the United States Forest Service and with the Indian Bureau before going to Window Rock.
