A PROGRAM Ol' FOREST COXSERXATION 367 



Land classification is an essential to any extensive and well-rounded 

 policy of forest conservation — acquisition, reforestation, protection, 

 taxation, and other activities. It is absolutely necessary for a working 

 basis. Furthermore, we are not going to convince Congress and the 

 legislatures that it is beneficial to the Government and the States to 

 spend large sums for acquiring land, unless we can classify it and 

 demonstrate to them in a practical fashion that the land we propose 

 to purchase is the best for the purpose and is necessary to be held by 

 the public for the general welfare. The same might be said of refor- 

 estation. Let me illustrate by an example. Recently at Concord, 

 N. H., a conference of forest users and those interested in the devel- 

 opment of forestry in that State was called for the special purpose of 

 considering a reforestation policy. The feeling was pretty general 

 that there was much waste land in the State, more particularly in the 

 white-pine section, but just how much no one could say. On the 

 other hand, the portable sawmill men felt that they could not keep up 

 with the fast-growing young stuff. Therefore, a resolution was 

 adopted requesting the legislature to provide a fund sufficient to 

 enable the forestry commission to make a survey of the situation 

 and to classify or determine the extent of the waste lands of the 

 State so that the information could be used as a basis for a plan 

 of reforestation. Fire protection, also, in some instances, will have 

 to be worked out on a basis of land classification. Some areas we are 

 going to have to burn, as for example, the longleaf pine lands where 

 black-jack oak tends to come in heavily and keep out pine reproduc- 

 tion and forage grasses. An equitable system of forest taxation will 

 depend absolutely on a classification of the land. Of course a detailed 

 classification of land is not practicable at present, but much neverthe- 

 less can be done in the way of classifying forest growth and deter- 

 mining especially the quantity of standing timber and the amount 

 of young growth on which to base estimates of future timber supplies. 



Every one of the Southern States should have in time an extensive 

 policy of forest land acquisition. Purchase would, of course, be 

 confined to cut-over and waste lands. Obviously, on account of the 

 enomous area of such lands and the limited funds available for the 

 purpose, the beginning will be in a small way and progress will be slow. 

 Some idea of the extent of the acquisition problem may be had from 

 the estimate of the area of cut-over lands in Secretary Lane's report 

 for 1918, which shows for the Southern States an aggregate of about 

 150.000,000 acres, or nearly 70 per cent of the estimate for the entire 

 country. This figure might be the best guess that can be made, but it 



