A PROGRAM OF FOREST CONSERVATION FOR THE 



SOUTH.i 



Bv J. G. Peters 

 Chief of State Co-operation, U. S. Forest Service. 



The obstacles to the progress of forest conservation in the South 

 are chiefly (i) the character of ownership of forest land, (2) the gen- 

 eral lack of public sentiment for keeping this land productive, (3) the 

 lack of funds in the State treasuries available for expenditure in forest 

 conservation, and (4) the lack of co-operation in a broad way from 

 the Federal Government. 



Enormous areas which could not possibly be developed in a con- 

 servative, wise manner by the population available, were thrown open 

 to the public as a result of the States and the Federal Government 

 disposing of practically all of their lands in the South. Very naturally, 

 economic conditions have made it impossible to develop or exploit 

 any but the better lands ; the poorer are left for a later day. Develop- 

 ment has been in a large measure superficial and temporary, so that 

 there are now in the South vast areas of waste land. 



The Atlantic States portion of the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont 

 are still, for the most part, divided up into rather large plantations. 

 The owners are frequently land poor, but for traditional reasons are 

 averse to parting with any of it. Stumpage only is sold and with little 

 thought of a future crop. Still the timber is regarded as a part of the 

 plantation ; the owner is a permanent resident, as a rule, living either 

 on the plantation or in a nearby town, who has some interest, however 

 small that may be, in the conservation of the resources of his com- 

 munity. On the other hand, the timber of the Southern Appalachians 

 and the Gulf States is held in fee, for the most part, by the lumbermen 

 themselves, who in most instances are non-residents. These owners 

 have little interest in the future of these regions and practically none 

 in the continuity of the forests. With few exceptions, the lumbermen 

 of the Gulf States estimate that present stands wmII run their mills for 

 about 10 years. The policy of most of them when cut out will be either 

 to sell out and get out or to wait for the home-seeker. 



' Read before a meeting of the Washington Section of the Society of American 

 Foresters, February 13, 1919. 



364 



