]22 JOURNAL OF FORRSTRY 



nent employment under the living conditions possible in the perma- 

 nent community. The problem, then, is to put an area forming an 

 economic unit of management now partly in National Forest and 

 partly in other ownership under unified sustained annual yield man- 

 agement. Pending the time that the ownership can be transferred in 

 whole to one party or the other, it is obvious that co-operation between 

 the Federal Forest Service and the private owner is requisite if for- 

 estry is to result. Since the average private owner is not trained in 

 forestry and does not recognize its benefits to himself or his obliga- 

 tion to keep his land in producing condition, it is plain that the obliga- 

 tion rests squarely on the shoulders of the Forest Service to initiate 

 negotiations in each instance. Failure to do so is failure to protect the 

 public interest with which it is charged, and which demands that all 

 non-agricultural forest lands be kept in producing conditon. 



The first step, then, is to form a definite workable co-operative 

 agreement between the Forest Service and the timber owner. What are 

 the arguments which the Service representative must rely on to induce 

 the owner to enter into such an agreement? They will vary widely 

 with the locality, but the following will apply nearly everywhere. 



(a) Since sustained annual yield management means a continued 

 supply of raw material, the timber operator will be assured of contin- 

 uous operation of any wood-using industries or plants indefinitely. 

 (Provided proper sales methods are pursued in disposing of the 

 annual cut of timber, as discussed hereafter.) It is very easy to 

 show the operator that continued operation of his plants will eliminate 

 depreciation due to exhaustion of raw materials, which annually neces- 

 sitates writing ofif huge capital charges in the lumber industry. Under 

 these conditions the operator can afiford to build a permanent, well- 

 equipped plant w^iich will turn out lumber or other wood manufac- 

 tures with the utmost economy, thus placing the owner in a strong 

 competitive position. This long life of the plant has the strongest 

 possible appeal, especially as in many cases the timber owner knows 

 that it will be a doutbful investment to construct a plant for the 

 amount of timber he has available on his own holdings. 



It further follows that since the plant is permanent the community 

 around it, often shaped by the policies of the timber operator, will be 

 permanent. It will, therefore, be possible, if the owner so desires, to 

 establish a permanent townsite properly planned from the industrial 

 and residential standpoint, where permanent homes, schools and 

 churches will be established. This assures the operator a more con- 



