STATK OWNKRSHIP OP FOREST LAXDS 967 



Let it be borne in mind that the essential function of the vState is the 

 protection of life and property. The purpose of the State in respect 

 to timber production, then, should be to estabHsh and maintain condi- 

 tions which will render it a profitable business whenever supply and 

 demand warrant expectation that it can be made a profitable business. 

 This means primarily protection from destructive natural elements such 

 as fire and insects, and also from artificial handicaps, such as reckless 

 competition among the industries related to forests, bad titles and sur- 

 veys to land, fraud and speculation in schemes of promotion and de- 

 velopment, uncertainty or injustice as to taxation, improper financial 

 methods, and other circumstances which make the business of producing 

 forest products and placing them on the market hazardous and uncer- 

 tain. In few States has the prime obligation of protection against fire 

 been fulfilled adequately to safeguard even merchantable stands. Pro- 

 tection is generally still insufficient to prevent wide-spread destruction 

 of young stands, particularly subject, as they are, to injury by fire. 

 The private owner feels little inducement to invest in improvements for 

 the growing of timber which is more likely than not to become a prey 

 to the flames. Throughout the sprout hardwood region of southern 

 New England, New York, and New Jersey, where growth and market 

 conditions are particularly favorable to the business of timber produc- 

 tion, for at least five years an average of about 2 per cent of the forest 

 area has been burned over annually, thanks to the inadequacy of the 

 appropriations for fire protection. Under such conditions, the purchase 

 of land by a State for purposes of timber production may be a diversion 

 of funds from protection seriously needed for the forests of the State 

 as a whole, and the losses occasioned by the fires may be far greater 

 than the benefits that could arise from the timber produced under State 

 ownership on the limited tracts acquired. State purchase is only a 

 transfer of ownership, and protection must be afforded the land, 

 whether publicly or privately owned. Whatever improvement in fire 

 protection has been effected on publicly owned land has been due to 

 the proportionately larger sums spent for protection rather than to 

 respect arising from the public character of the property. 



In the making of forestry appropriations, which as far as possible 

 should be comprised in a budget, the normal protective function of the 

 State should have first consideration. The principal aim of the State 

 forestry office should be to afford consistent, orderly protection to the 

 forests of the whole State, year after year. Projects of land purchase 

 ought to be considered as of secondary importance and should be con- 

 summated only in accordance with a sound, carefully thought-out 

 program. 



