A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 91 



values from forest lands. Forestry is land and resource management 

 in the widest sense. 



THE DIRECT VALUES OF FORESTS 



FORESTS AS A SOURCE OF WOOD 

 WOOD FOR HOME CONSUMPTION 



As a source of essential raw materials forests have played a vital 

 part in our national history. An abundant and cheap supply of forest 

 products was available in the initial settlement of the country, and 

 American civilization early became characterized by a very high rate 

 of wood consumption. The per capita use of wood and the total 

 volume used annually have declined in the past 25 years, but the 

 United States still uses more wood per capita than many other 

 nations. 



A decline in per capita consumption was to be expected, once the 

 rapid expansion of the pioneer period was past. That this expecta- 

 tion has been realized does not mean that an abundant supply of forest 

 products is no longer necessary. In spite of all the substitution of 

 other materials for wood, it remains an important construction 

 material, dominates the box and container market, and is irreplaceable 

 in meeting the increasing use of newsprint and heavy wrapping paper. 

 No satisfactory substitute has been found for many other uses of wood. 

 The forms in which wood is used have changed rapidly, and they are 

 still changing. But careful studies of the future requirements for 

 wood, as discussed elsewhere in this report, indicate its permanently 

 important position among our physical needs. 



The decline in consumption of wood has been due in part to the 

 comparative inertia of the producers and manufacturers of wood 

 products. Unlike producers of many other materials, including some 

 which are used extensively in place of wood, they have failed to 

 compete aggressively in adapting wood to consumers' needs and 

 preferences, in developing new uses, and in popularizing wood as a 

 raw material. While producers of competing materials have been 

 spending millions in scientific and technical research for the purpose 

 of improving their products and finding new ways to use them, wood 

 producers, with the exception of pulp and paper manufacturers, have 

 spent relatively little. 



Nevertheless, even though other materials might conceivably be 

 substituted for wood in virtually all of its important uses, it would 

 be contrary to the public interest for this to happen. From the 

 public standpoint there are many advantages in having a variety 

 of materials capable of meeting our needs. It is particularly desir- 

 able that wood be available in abundance and be employed liberally, 

 not only because of its great intrinsic merits, but also because of its 

 relative cheapness. Unlike most of the competing materials, it is 

 renewable, and it can be grown in most parts of the country fairly 

 near the consumers. It is, consequently, less susceptible of monopol- 

 istic or quasi-monopolistic control. The continued utilization of 

 wood on a large scale is in the public interest because it makes possible 

 the productive use of land which otherwise would produce little or 

 nothing, and thus contributes to the economic welfare of large num- 

 bers of people, of many communities, and of the country as a whole. 



