17(5 JOURNAI, OF FORIvSTRY 



tial forest value, are not devoted to the use for which they were set 

 aside? 



Sympathy for the returned soldier, or the political advantage to be 

 gained by some congressman or group of congressmen, or party, in 

 winning the favor of the large soldier vote will probably have consid- 

 erable influence in the passage of future land legislation. That legisla- 

 tion of this character is successful is demonstrated by the creation of 

 National Parks continually from National Forests, regardless of na- 

 tional needs, the influence of the congressional delegation often being 

 the determining feature rather than the merit of the project. The 

 attack has already started upon the organization and it is up to us to 

 have our line of defense clearly prepared. 



It seems to me that a vigorous planting policy upon non-timbered 

 lands within our National Forests will assist greatly in meeting the 

 present situation. Never before have the people of the United States 

 had the needs of forestry impressed upon them so much as during the 

 present period. The discovery that our supplies of black walnut, black 

 locust, and accessible spruce were almost exhausted came as a shock to 

 the people of the United States. The knowledge that France had been 

 practicing forestry for over a century and had thus acquired forests 

 which helped to shorten the road to victory has stimulated the interest 

 of the people in forestry. We even have the National Council of De- 

 fense urging the planting of walnut, hickory, and other species of forest 

 trees. This indicates that the nation as a whole would be prepared for 

 any expansion in our planting program. Extensive planting of this 

 kind will remove the objection that some lands are being held for graz- 

 ing purposes and will indicate that we were consistent in including cer- 

 tain lands within National Forests on account of their potential forest 

 values. 



Of course, it will be impossible to start planting extensively at once 

 without some investigation and some plans. From successful plantings 

 we have data for numerous regions, indicating the proper methods and 

 species to use, and for other areas the data which we had hoped to 

 secure through ranger planting was rendered valueless by the tramp- 

 ling of cattle. It is true that many of these failures were due to care- 

 less selections of planting sites, often the small plots being located in 

 places convenient to the ranger station, but on sites unfavorable for 

 tree growth. The present planting policy calls for the forestation of 

 the most favorable areas first, with intensive experimentation on the 

 more vigorous sites before large operations are commenced there. It 



