REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 29 



THE FOREST PROBLEM. 



The necessity of working out and applying a comprehensive plan 

 for i^rotecting, regrowing, and utilizing our forests becomes more 

 obvious with each succeeding year. We now consume timber four 

 times as fast as we grow it. At the present rate of wood con- 

 sumption we should have about 4 acres of productive forest land per 

 capita, and these acres should grow wood at the rate of about 50 

 cubic feet per acre per year to supply a population equal to that 

 shown by the 1920 census. This production of wood can not even be 

 approximated unless we become more skilled in the art of growing 

 and managing forests and of utilizing forest products with economy. 

 This requires cooperation between the Federal Government and 

 various States and the owners of private forest lands. The desire 

 for such cooperation seems to be increasing on the part of all. 

 There was a time when Federal efforts toward developing a con- 

 structive forest policy were resented by owners of forest lands. 

 Gradually that attitude has been changing, and during the past 

 18 months I have had many evidences of both the willingness and 

 the earnest desire of timber owners to avail themselves of Federal 

 cooperation and technical skill. 



Through force of circumstances the main effort of the Department 

 of Agriculture in its dealing with the forest problem has been to 

 manage and protect the great national forests. In my report of 

 last year I dealt somewhat at length with the general policies which 

 have been followed in forest administration. These policies should 

 be extended to cover the whole forest area of the United States, 

 classing as forest area all land more suitable for timber production 

 than for other purposes. The more quickly provision is made for 

 this the better. 



Equal in importance to the growing of forests and protecting them 

 is the best possible utilization of the wood. It would be very wise to 

 enlarge the work of the department in the scientific study of wood 

 utilization. The work it has been able to do in its forest products 

 laboratory in Wisconsin has borne rich fruit and has won grateful 

 acknowledgment from wood users of all kinds. The extension of 

 such work as rapidly as possible will prove highly profitable to the 

 general public. We are finding that the consumption of wood for 

 many purposes can be greatly lessened through a better understand- 



