A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE MAJOR FOREST PROBLEMS 



11 



Despite some reason for gratification in past accomplishments, 

 the American people have no reason to be proud of what still remains 

 to be done to put forestry on a satisfactory footing in the United States. 



What is still needed falls logically into a group of major forest 

 problems. Some of these problems have to do with the productive 

 use of land as influenced by ownership and management. Others 

 center hi timber, watershed influences, and the other chief products 

 and services of the land. Another deals with the knowledge which 

 must be available for the solution of the problems. 



NONCOMMERCIAL LAND 



COMMERCIAL LAND 



100 



ZOO 300 



MILLION ACRES 



400 



FIGURE 2. Ownership of four fifths of the commercial or timber-growing land has given the private owner 

 the opportunity to dominate American forestry for better or worse, an opportunity made even more 

 favorable by the quality of the land. "All forest land" includes some reserved areas. 



THE PROBLEM OF PRIVATELY OWNED FOREST LANDS 



As already indicated, nearly 400 million acres of commercial forest 

 land is in private ownership, 270 in industrial holdings and 127 

 millions in farm woodlands. 



IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TYPE OP OWNERSHIP 



Private ownership is by far the most important class because of its 

 great area and also because it includes the great bulk (fig. 2) of the 

 most highly productive, the most accessible, and most easily logged 

 forest land in the country. Still further, nearly 60 percent of the 

 most accessible remaining saw timber is on private lands. More than 

 half of the remaining saw timber is industrially owned. 



