CHAPTER XIII 

 SOLVING OUR FORESTRY PROBLEMS 



A system of forestry which will provide suffi- 

 cient lumber for the needs of our country and 

 keep our forest land productive must be built 

 on the extension of our public forests. Our Na- 

 tional Forests are, at present, the one bright 

 feature of future lumbering. Their tree crops 

 will never be cut faster than they can be grown. 

 A balance between production and consumption 

 will always be maintained. Our needs for more 

 timber, the necessity for protecting the head- 

 waters of streams, the demands for saving wild 

 life, and the playground possibilities of our for- 

 ests justify their extension. Approximately 

 eighty per cent, of the American forests are now 

 privately owned. The chances are that most of 

 these wooded tracts will always remain in the 

 hands of private owners. It is important that 

 the production of these forests be kept up with- 

 out injuring their future value. We must pre- 

 pare for the lumber demands of many years 

 from now. 



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