196 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



interest basis, yet no one would for that reason undertake to justify 

 the taking over by the Government of the production of food or to 

 excuse the farmer for allowing his land to deteriorate so far as to 

 endanger the public interest. In public discussions of the possibility 

 of the practice of forestry by private timber owners, it must be clearly 

 recognized that if the large timber owners in their operations regard 

 the forest merely as a mine, it is not often because they cannot handle 

 it as a continuous resource with a fair profit, but because, being accus- 

 tomed to speculative profits, they are unwilling to engage in continuous 

 forest production which promises only a moderate return. 



Whether the policy of public ownership is adopted or not, the country 

 cannot afford to allow its remaining forest lands to be devastated. 

 Forest devastation must stop. Acquisition of as much land as possible 

 by public agencies is a move in the right direction, but does not afford 

 immediate relief. It must be brought about by placing the bulk of the 

 non-agricultural private forest land on a permanent forest-production 

 basis. The States and the Federal Government, in cases where lumber 

 enters into interstate commerce, have the constitutional right and the 

 moral obligation to prevent laying waste of forest land. 



Timber owners should be required upon removing the timber to 

 either reforest their land, leave it in such a condition that it will restock 

 naturally, or prepare it for agriculture or for pasture. In case of fail- 

 ure to do either of these things, the land should revert to the State, 

 which should take steps to put it to its highest economic use. The 

 assessment of waste land for taxation purposes at the value which it 

 would have if put to its best use might also be effective in causing cut- 

 over land to be left in a productive condition. Fire protection, particu- 

 larly of second-growth forests, should be insisted upon. 



Private owners may be encouraged and helped to practice forestry 

 by proper forest taxation laws, by State insurance against loss by fire 

 or otherwise, by providing cheap credit through State or Federal forest 

 loan organizations similar in principle to the Federal Farm Loan Banks, 

 by co-operation between public and private owners in managing their 

 forests and in marketing their products, pooling resources if necessary, 

 and by other measures of similar character. 



The acquisition of the bulk of the forest lands by the public, though 

 desirable as the ultimate solution of the problem, is not sufficient, as 

 far as the immediate future is concerned. It will be necessary to place 

 these lands on a continuous forest-production basis while they are still 

 in private hands if our remaining forests are to be saved and our wood- 

 using industries are to prosper. 



