A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 147 



tional should be thus withdrawn from the commercial category for 

 recreational purposes. On the other hand, the area of commercial 

 forest land available for timber use may be increased by reforesting 

 areas of abandoned or other agricultural lands which are deemed no 

 longer essential for agriculture. This aspect of the land situation is 

 referred to later in this summary, and in more detail in the section, 

 "Agricultural Land Available for Forestry." 



From the standpoint of timber use, the character of ownership of 

 forest land is important. The following tabulation summarizes the 

 distribution of the present acreage of commercial forest land for the 

 three broad classes of ownership : 



Acres 



Publicly owned or managed forest land 99, 000, 000 



Industrial forest land 269, 000, 000 



Farm woodlands 127, 000, 000 



Total 495, 000, 000 



The previous discussion emphasizes the fact that the publicly owned 

 land is nearly all located in the West while the farm woodlands are 

 mostly in the East. 



PROTECTIVE FUNCTION 



It is estimated that on approximately four fifths of the forest land of 

 the country forest influences have a definite protective effect expressed 

 in the regulation of stream flow, the maintenance of water supply, the 

 prevention of erosion, and the amelioration of destructive winds and 

 other severe climatic conditions. 



However, relatively little of this area should be withheld from timber 

 or other use for the sake of protection. Among the few exceptional 

 tracts are some protecting municipal watersheds. In general, when 

 managed under practices which are satisfactory from the timber use 

 standpoint, forest land will sufficiently fulfill its protective and other 

 functions simultaneously. The fact is brought out in this report, 

 however, that under present conditions large areas of forest land exist 

 which, because of present forest cover, are not satisfactory protection 

 forests. 



RECREATIONAL USE 



Recreation, broadly defined as the use of the forest for play, relaxa- 

 tion, aesthetic enjoyment, and inspiration, is a tremendously import- 

 ant and rapidly growing forest-land use. In general all forest land, if 

 it has not been severely damaged by fire and logging, is potentially 

 adapted to some form of recreational use. Some forest land has sucn 

 high recreational value, however, that it should be set aside entirely 

 from commercial development. Already 11 million acres of forest 

 land, of which the national parks are the outstanding example, are 

 withdrawn from commercial timber use on account of recreational 

 values. It is estimated in this report that eventually an additional 

 34 million acres should be withdrawn from the commercial forest land 

 category for recreational purposes. A considerable portion of this 

 will fall in the least accessible zones of commercial forest land and 

 therefore the conflict with timber use needs will not be so great as 

 might be implied by the figures alone. 



