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IV. Forest Policy and Management 
The forestry problem in this region may be discussed with reference 
to three kinds of forest: (1) the large, more or less continuous tract of 
upland timber extending from Thebes to Chester which we have called the 
western region, which is most important for a future supply of cross- 
ties, mine props, and lumber; (2) farm wood-lots which are scattered 
and usually surrounded by roads; and (3) the overflow bottomlands, 
some already included in organized drainage projects, which will not be 
farmed for some years—at least not during the short rotation required 
to grow a timber crop of the faster-growing bottomland species. 
Tue UpLanp TIMBER BELT 
The upland timber belt presents some interesting problems. Dun- 
lap (’21) mentions a fact in Missouri which finds its counterpart in this 
region, since this is a continuation of the Missouri Ozarks. He says that 
in this Missouri area there are from 5 to 10 millions of acres of timber- 
land which are producing only three or four ties per acre per year when 
they might be producing ten ties per year. The technical side of timber- 
growing in such a region is, according to him, quite easy, being largely 
a matter of suppressing forest fires and prohibiting grazing—at least while 
the areas are reproducing. A combination of forestry in the hills and 
farming in the narrow valleys will furnish employment for farmers in 
summer and for woods workers in winter, thus bringing about a better 
economic and social condition; whereas destruction of the timber means 
abandonment of many farms and decreased revenue to their owners. 
Where private owners and companies do not take sufficient interest 
in these large tracts to protect them, the question is one of the wisdom 
of enforcing certain silvicultural requirements in the interest of the public 
—which undoubtedly is concerned in a permanent timber supply—or of 
state or other public ownership of such tracts. Whenever the time is ripe 
for the state to purchase these lands—after a careful valuation—to pro- 
tect them from fire, to carry on improvement cuttings and thinnings— 
thus affording at times a revenue to reduce the initial investment—and 
to hold them for a future timber supply and protection forest, this would 
be one possible solution. By means of its aggregation as a unit capable 
of successful forest-management, and its nearness to markets whose 
demands promise to increase rather than to diminish, the entire situation of 
this tract is both unique and strategic in Illinois, and we know of no other 
equal area in the state which combines like advantages. 
OUTLINE OF PROPOSED FIRE-PROTECTION SYSTEM 
FOR UPLAND TIMBER BELT 
In general, the attitude of these timber owners is favorable to pro- 
tection, and their co-operation could be secured if they were convinced 
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