FOREST SERVICE, 197 



watersheds of navigable streams. This appropriation is expendable 

 only in States which at least match the Federal funds, and has been 

 the cause, since its initiation in 1911, of a constantly widening circle 

 of forest protection through public and private cooperation. But 

 while ground is being gained and held, it must be recognized squarely 

 that our national task of forest protection is still less than half per- 

 formed and that the recurrent burning of forest lands remains the 

 greatest handicap upon general reforestation. 



Undoubtedly the second greatest drawback upon timber growing 

 in the United States is the deterrent effect of the property tax levied 

 year after year upon land bearing young trees. One of the outstand- 

 ing needs of the situation is a system of taxing growing forests under 

 which the principal burden will fall at the time of harvesting the 

 matured crop but which is so adjusted as to be equitable to other 

 classes of taxpayers and to meet the needs for public revenue. Earn- 

 est efforts to devise an adequate plan for taxing forest lands are now 

 being made in at least a dozen States; and the Forest Service is 

 engaged in a nation-wide study of the subject with the purpose of 

 aiding local agencies and promoting a sound public conception of the 

 problem. 



A survey of lands, forests, waters, and wild life in northern Michi- 

 gan has been undertaken by the State with a view to ascertaining 

 the exact situation as to soil conditions, forest and game resources, 

 denuded and unproductive land, agricultural and timber-growing 

 possibilities, and opportunities for recreational development. This 

 surve}^ will afford the basis of a comprehensive State policy for deal- 

 ing with its natural resources. It is an example of what should be 

 done in every one of the 39 States which contain important areas 

 of forest land. 



There have been many other recent indications of public interest 

 and effort in response to the clearer conception of the situation as to 

 timber shortage and idle land. Movements are in progress to secure 

 forestry laws in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri, and to 

 extend and strengthen legislation favorable to reforestation in many 

 other States. The creation of additional State forests is receiving a 

 strong impetus in Texas, Mmnesota, and California, while in New 

 England the estabhshmcnt of town forests is gaining noticeable 

 headway. Meanw^hile the pressure of purely economic forces is 

 having a gradually more marked effect in stimulating the growing of 

 timber crops, particularly in the Northern and Eastern States. The 

 commercial planting of forest trees is increasing from year to year. 

 Thousands of farmers and other small owners are more or less sys- 

 tematically reforesting their inferior lands. A considerable number of 

 far-sighted companies engaged in the manufacture of timber products 

 or in other industries which require wood have embarked upon the 

 reforestation of their lands upon an extensive and well-planned scale. 



These facts illustrate the many angles of the forest problem and 

 the man}' factors which will contribute to its ultimate solution. We 

 are still far short of a balance between timber use and timber growth, 

 and the inroads upon the remaining supply of stumpage will doubt- 

 less be accelerated as building and industrial activity assume more 

 normal proportions. Yet real progress is being made in the amount 

 of young forest growth in the United States, which will ultimately 

 contribute to the timber supply. 



