INTRODUCTION XXV 



The privately owned forests of the United States are either in 

 small holdings or woodlots attached to farms, or in large holdings 

 for the most part in non-agricultural regions. They contain 

 approximately four-fifths of the merchantable standing timber. 

 The woodlots of the country cover approximately 200 million 

 acres and contain about 300 billion board feet of sawing timber, 

 besides an enormous amount of inferior wood. The larger private 

 holdings, chiefly in the possession of corporations, cover an area 

 of approximately 235 million acres and contain 1700 billion board 

 feet, or more than three-fifths of the total standing timber of 

 merchantable quality in the entire country. 



4. THE NECESSITY FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT 



At the present time, every large source of timber supply in the 

 United States is drawn upon in order to meet the demands of our 

 timber markets. Recent years have experienced a notable 

 shrinkage in the annual cut of some of our most valuable species. 

 The cut of inferior hardwoods is rapidly increasing in order to 

 meet the demand which better species cannot supply. 



The necessity for forest management does not rest wholly upon 

 our future requirements for timber. The destruction of our 

 forests, if carried too far, will reduce the fiber and affect the 

 general happiness of the entire nation. Our general health, both 

 moral and physical, will suffer and our future prosperity will be 

 jeopardized. Although we cannot measure the indirect value of 

 the forest by money value, the history of China, Greece, Asia 

 Minor, and many others of the older nations clearly shows its im- 

 portance. The effect of the forest upon soil conservation and 

 fertility and upon stream flow and erosion are beyond conserva- 

 tive estimate. 



The social order in the United States is democratic. We are 

 inclined to permit a condition in which the interests of all are 

 made subordinate to the interests of the individual. As a result, 

 the interests of the future, against present personal interests, are 

 often not adequately safeguarded. 



5. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE 



The close of the 19th century saw but little accomplished in the 

 United States in the organization and management of our forests. 

 Private owners of timberlands had scarcely given a thought to 



