114 A NATIONAL PLAN FOE, AMERICAN FORESTRY 



GREAT EXPANSION OF FORESTRY IS JUSTIFIED 



To the question "Is forestry justified?" a general answer "yes" is 

 indicated. This answer necessarily anticipates conclusions, based on 

 detailed factual material which is contained in other sections of this 

 report. 



FORESTS A NATURAL RESOURCE OF MANIFOLD VALUES AND 



SERVICES 



It has been shown that forests furnish a variety of useful raw ma- 

 terials which serve as the basis for important industries as well as for 

 export and which can be reproduced indefinitely. They furnish useful 

 employment and a means of subsistence to millions of our citizens. 

 They protect the soil on river banks, hillsides, and mountain slopes. 

 They retard or prevent the silting up of navigable channels, harbors, 

 and reservoirs. They help to maintain the purity of domestic water 

 supplies. They furnish forage for domestic livestock, and food and 

 refuge for many forms of wild life that are useful to man or that afford 

 him enjoyment. They beautify the landscape, and afford opportuni- 

 ties for inexpensive and wholesome recreation to many millions of 

 people. Tnev are an important adjunct of agriculture, which could 

 hardly exist in many regions w r ere it not for the forests. Under per- 

 manent management, they serve to prevent unhealthy booms, stabil- 

 ize industry and social institutions, and sustain permanent com- 

 munities. 



NATIONAL WELFARE DEMANDS BEST USE OF OUR LAND 



RESOURCES 



Forest land is almost one third of the land area of the entire coun- 

 try, or some 600 million acres. Failure to develop and utilize this 

 land productively means inevitable reduction in the aggregate of 

 goods and services available to satisfy the wants of our people. The 

 only valid excuse for not so utilizing it would be that there are other, 

 more useful or more productive outlets for all of our available efforts 

 and energies. This patently is not true, in view of the already large 

 and constantly growing chronic unemployment of our workmen and 

 our industrial plants. 



States and Nation are necessarily concerned with maintaining 

 abundance of natural resources, as a source of basic national wealth 

 and as a means of giving opportunities for employment to their 

 citizens. Assurance of continuous supply of the raw materials pro- 

 duced by our own forest lands is in itself a national necessity. Un- 

 due dependence on foreign imports for materials that we can produce 

 at home is not good national economy. Forest products are an 

 important item in our international trade. Even the most localized 

 areas of idle or partially idle forest land are of national concern, 

 because thereby the sum total of national wealth is reduced, and the 

 opportunities for employment are diminished. National economic 

 well-being and security cannot be assured so long as local impover- 

 ishment and decadence are common. 



