WILD LIFE IN NATIONAL ECONOMY 27 



human aspects of the problem, the quantity and scope of the 

 data available on population movements, or the purely eco- 

 nomic phases of land planning. Let it suffice to say that 

 human knowledge is far from complete in any of these 

 fields. 



The federal bureaus are not themselves altogether to 

 blame for this situation. Limitations imposed by the stat- 

 utes and by lack of funds have many times hampered their 

 work and prevented them from gathering the information 

 which they should have. The point remains, however, that 

 only twenty-six percent of the area of the United States has 

 been adequately mapped, 20 less than half of it surveyed to 

 determine the quality of its soil, while there are great gaps 

 in the field of knowledge regarding vegetation, climate, and 

 wild life. This factor must be taken into consideration in 

 planning the use of the nation's resources. 



Land Planning Within Constitutional Limits: Once a 

 national land plan has been drafted, the next problem is to 

 apply the plan and bring the actual use of the land into 

 conformity with it. Land still owned by the government 

 offers a fairly easy problem. Those areas in the public 

 domain of the federal government which can be efficiently 

 administered by existing federal agencies such as the Forest 

 Service, the National Park Service, or the Biological Sur- 

 vey, can be withdrawn from settlement by act of Congress 



20 Estimate by chief of the Topographic Branch, U. S. Geological Survey. 

 For more detailed discussion of the scientific aspects of the problem, see 

 Federal Land Planning Agencies, Bulletin 2A, National Resources Board 

 0934) prepared by the writer; also Preliminary Report on Land Re- 

 sources in Relation to Public Policy, Science Advisory Board (1934) ; 

 ibid., New York Times, December 15, 1934; Bowie, William, "Survey- 

 ing and Mapping in the United States," The Military Engineer, Septem- 

 ber 1933, p. 386; A National Plan for American Forestry (Copeland 

 Report) prepared by U. S. Forest Service, 73rd Congress, ist Sess., 

 Senate Doc. 12 (1933). 



