THE SITUATION 9 



element makes it so. Especially the wasted forest lands which can be 

 recuperated for economic production only by planting — and these form 

 or soon are going to form the bulk of the forest area of the Eastern 

 States — offer no inducement, or only in rare cases, for private business. 

 It is not because the profitableness of such an enterprise could not be 

 theoretically proved, but practically the long wait for returns and the 

 risks during that long term will deter a desire to invest money in this 

 business on a large scale — such a scale as the needs of the nation at 

 large require. 



The financial aspects of private forest management have at this 

 meeting most convincingly and in a painstaking manner with reference 

 to actual conditions been discussed by Professor Kirkland, and I may 

 not take up time to enlarge upon the subject, except to say that his 

 ingenious way of organizing the lumbermen into a big trust for sus- 

 tained yield management of their holdings does not promise speedy 

 adoption. 



With a few words I may make reference to municipal forests and 

 woodlots. 



In so far as public ownership of forests may be recognized as 

 proper policy, the establishment of municipally owned — county, town, 

 city— forest property is to be encouraged. At least a beginning in this 

 direction is to be noted, 10 cities owning some 150,000 acres being on 

 record. 



It is, however, not likely that our larger problem will be taken care 

 of by an extension of this quite proper policy. Nor will the farmers' 

 woodlots, which are said to contain 10 per cent of the standing timber, 

 even though they should be rationally managed, and in the aggregate 

 represent a considerable accession to our wood supplies, solve the 

 problem of rehabilitation of the vast area outside the farms. 



What is needed is a still further extension of the federal policy 

 as expressed in the Week's law. That law and Federal action in the 

 purchase of watersheds was based on the claim of an influence of the 

 forest cover on riverflow and the interstate interest in rivers which 

 flow through several States. 



The argument for national concern on the ground of influence on 

 riverflow, as far as it is really valid, it will be admitted, can after all 

 pertain only to limited territory, to localized conditions. On the other 

 hand, there are far larger nation-zmde economic interests in this forest 

 problem which call for national action. 



The whole nation is certainly concerned in the continuance of its 



