FORESTRY AND THE FOREST 

 PROBLEM 



By Charles Lathrop Pack 



FORESTRY is a general term susceptible of varying definitions 

 according to the opinions of the definer. Broadly it might be said that 

 to practise forestry is to apply concrete scientific principles to the 

 growth and utilization of timber crops. It does not mean laws com- 

 pelling the planting of a young tree for every old one cut ; regulating 

 the sizes and kinds of trees to be cut; controlling private enterprise 

 by government. It does mean the recreation of forest resources by 

 the best means conceivable, and use of the existing resources with the 

 minimum of waste. 



Forestry, in the strict sense, is a science. It relates to the proper- 

 ties of wood ; the best uses to which it can be put ; the best conditions 

 under which it can be grown. Management is an economic science 

 applied to forestry, and an increasingly important and appreciated 

 phase of the question. Forest fire prevention, and insect and disease 

 control and eradication are vitally important factors in the bigger issue. 



Beyond the questions of the planting, growing and protecting of 

 forests there is the broader question of the " forest problem." These 

 two words represent something that concerns every citizen. The 

 science of forestry must be left to trained men who dedicate their 

 life to the work, but the solution of the forestry problem rests with 

 the intelligent and informed activity of the people of the nation. 

 Their action must reflect an aroused appreciation of the importance 

 of the forest in their economic and social life. 



What is this problem ? Estimates place the original forests of the 

 United States at 822,000,000 acres. Today there remain 138,000,000 

 acres of virgin forest ; 250,000,000 acres covered with second-growth 

 timber or young trees of no commercial value, and 81,000,000 acres of 

 land fitted for no other purpose than forest growth that are barren 

 and unproductive of anything. Including virgin and second-growth 



