252 



JOURNAI, OF FORESTRY 



Forestry) of the land thus cleared is 

 not necessarily a public misfortune. 



2. "Possession of cheap and plentiful 

 standing timber is not necessarily a 

 symptom of national wealth. 



3. "The virtual disappearance of 

 certain species of timber is not neces- 

 sarily detrimental to the public welfare. 



4. "The cutting down of old trees 

 faster than new trees are growing up 

 does not of itself signify public loss. 



5. "Not only is it not necessarily, 

 but it is not even probably true, that 

 all the lands in the United States local- 

 ly determined to be better suited for 

 growing trees than for growing any- 

 thing else, should be used for growing 

 trees. 



6. "The disappearance of forest in- 

 dustries in certain regions because of 

 exhaustion of nearby timber supplies 

 is not necessarily either a local or 

 national misfortune. 



7. "Economically the original timber 

 in the United States is in large part a 

 'mine' and not a 'crop.' 



8. "Local shrinkage of employment 

 for labor, caused by vanishing forest 

 industries in certain regions, has been 

 by no means an unmixed evil for labor. 



9. "Idleness of some of the cut- 

 over timberlands is the temporary re- 

 sult to be expected of clearing the 

 forests from lands upon which main- 

 tenance of permanent forest growth 

 would be poor public economy, be- 

 cause involving relatively wasteful use 

 of the soil. 



10. "Idleness of other of the cut- 

 over timberlands is the inevitable re- 

 sult of clearing the forest from lands 

 upon which regrowing of a new forest 

 would be poor private economy. 



11. "The owner of private property 

 in timberlands, legally acquired, is 

 under no different or greater _ public 

 obligation permanently to use his land 

 to grow timber than the obligation of 

 the owner of agricultural land to use 

 his land to grow farm crops if the 

 growing of such crops is unprofitable. 



ests, either in public or private hands. 

 Under modern civilization decadence 

 and widespread, permanent devasta- 

 tion of an existing forest resource are 

 inter-related, especially in localities 

 with somewhat deficient rainfall. With 

 forest devastation the local population 

 on potential forest areas decreases. 



2. From the national economic view- 

 point the indirect benefits of forests 

 have a bearing on the nation's health, 

 climate, and general prosperity. 



3. The financial returns or direct 

 benefits from permanent forest produc- 

 tion are usually less than the average 

 net profits secured from other forms 

 of conservative business, and the risk 

 of growing forests is considerable — 

 the more extensive the conditions 

 usually the greater is the risk. But in 

 some cases private forests can be 

 handled properly as a conservative 

 investment provided the economic con- 

 ditions are satisfactory and provided 

 technical and financial assistance is 

 given by the State. 



4. If forest production and an equit- 

 able annual yield is to be sustained 

 obligatory regulation is essential, not 

 only in private but also in public forest 

 management, but the success of man- 

 datory forestry on private land is very 

 doubtful if the owner maintains his 

 forests solely for its return in money, 

 unless the State co-operates. 



5. Where private owners are not re- 

 strained by law and where the sole 

 aim is immediate financial profit, their 

 forests are usually destroyed and dur- 

 ing the process of disintegration often 

 constitute a public menace. This rapid 

 realization of growing stock or capital 

 is because the forest is usually a poor 

 permanent investment and because of 

 the inherent human tendency toward 

 rapid gain. . 



6. The far-reaching results of forest 

 destruction are often slow in making 

 themselves felt, but are cumulative in 

 their adverse effect on the public in- 

 terests. The correction of forest 

 denudation is so slow and so exceed- 

 ingly expensive that most if not all 

 mountain forest areas should be con- 

 trolled by the State. 



