A FOREST POLICY FOR LOUISIANA 509 



into the Gulf of Mexico in east Texas, ^ is scarcely worth speculation, 

 and yet in it would appear to lie our greatest hope. 



Prairie. — A treeless region, or nearly so, devoid of any considerable 

 original stand and nearly all available for cultivation, this presents little 

 of significance from the standpoint of forest production, although, as 

 in various prairie States, planted groves to supply fuel, fence posts, etc., 

 are increasing. As farm woodlands, susceptible to proper handling for 

 continuous production, these plantations and the few patches of woods 

 which originally existed and may have been preserved are of interest 

 to the Department of Conservation, and it should be part of the State 

 policy to encourage in every way their preservation and proper handling 

 by the owners. Fire protection will be, of course, an unknown worry 

 in the region. 



Bluff Region. — Ill-advised removal of forest growth in this region 

 appears to be more dangerous than in any other type (except perhaps 

 the shortleaf-pine region) on account of causing erosion. The finely 

 textured seolian soils of the region wash readily, and in places, as along 

 the main streams, the slopes are very abrupt. Some of the oldest agri- 

 cultural plantations in the State lie in the region (West Feliciana Par- 

 ish), and the ownership of land is well divided. This latter fact, to- 

 gether with the local distribution of uncultivable areas, scattered in 

 small bodies through the rich agricultural land, points to a breaking up 

 of the timbered areas into farm woodlands, of course, in private owner- 

 ship. The demand for forest products, such as fuel and posts, will be 

 increasingly good as the virgin timber of adjoining regions becomes 

 scarcer and the present rapid development of farms in this region con- 

 tinues. As in the prairies, fire protection is already in large measure, 

 and in the future will be entirely, assured by the smallness and isola- 

 tion of the forest areas. 



Allin'ial Region. — The vast areas of back lands in this region will 

 not be reclaimed for at least a generation, and as logging in the type is 

 apt to leave a few seed trees at least of tuplo, a light seeded species, 

 natural reproduction is easy, as a rule. Furthermore, except in a most 

 unusual year like 191 7, the periodic overflows totally prevent fires. If 

 the soils themselves were true forest soils, State ownership would be 

 advisable to prevent the owners, under the pressure of taxes and the 

 necessity for immediate returns, from cutting clean in the young 

 second-growth stands as soon as they have produced fuel, posts, piling, 

 and other small material, instead of waiting for the greater ultimate 

 returns in the form of sawlogs. But although opinions differ as to 



The Loblolly Pine in East Texas, Bui. 64, U. S. Forest Service. 



