A NATIONAL PLAN FOB AMERICAN FORESTRY 353 



Many slopes in the highlands have been cleared and put into crops. 

 Observations indicate that on slopes steeper than about 15 percent 

 agricultural use leads to gullying so severe that the land is quickly 

 abandoned. 



Privately-owned forest lands in the highland section burn frequently. 

 Hardwood sprouts and other vegetation come in on some areas 

 denuded by fire, but because of fire many cut-over lands have failed 

 to restock quickly and are without adequate litter and humus. On 

 public forest areas such as the Cherokee and Alabama National 

 Forests, litter and humus have developed under fire protection. 

 These national forests were established at the headwaters of the 

 Apalachicola and Black Warrior Rivers because of the influence of 

 the areas on stream flow and erosion. That this influence is decidedly 

 beneficial is shown by the fact that the streams from the national- 

 forest areas, formerly muddy, now usually run clear. 



In the Piedmont and Coastal Plain sections, where pines predomi- 

 nate, fires are much more common. In the piedmont section, where 

 much of the forest area is on farms, pasturing and fires go together. 



Most of the upland pine forest is second growth. In logging pine 

 stands it is customary to cut fairly clean, but usually a sufficient seed 

 supply has been available to insure reforestation if fires are not too 

 destructive. This is evidenced by the fact that although severe 

 cutting and repeated burning have occurred extensively on the pine 

 lands, only about 5 percent of these lands have been devastated. 

 Fires kill small loblolly seedlings ; shortleaf has the faculty of sprout- 

 ing after being burned. Both pines are resistant to light ground fire 

 after they have reached a diameter of a few inches. 



Longleaf is the predominating tree of the Coastal Plain forest. 

 Usually, before the mature pine forest is cut all trees large enough to 

 support a turpentine face are worked for naval stores. Frequent fires 

 before the naval stores operation and annual fires during it destory 

 much advance growth. In logging, the trees large enough for the 

 saw are cut first, then the larger trees that have survived the subse- 

 quent fires are taken for poles and piling. In some localities, logging 

 followed by fire leaves the land completely devastated. On some 

 areas, conversion from forest to grassland has taken place within a 

 very few years. Only the remarkable persistence of longleaf seedlings 

 in the face of repeated fire and the ability of the saplings to survive 

 defoliation prevent this species from being almost wholly 'destroyed. 

 As it is, something like 10 percent of the longleaf area has been dev- 

 astated. If given a chance, however, the longleaf with the help of 

 other species such as slash and loblolly reclaims some of the denuded 

 areas. Clear cutting is less usual with second-growth stands, but 

 they are heavily worked for turpentine and are subjected to frequent 

 fires. 



In the more moist parts of the lower Coastal Plain slash pine occurs 

 with the longleaf. Practically all this is second growth. The slash 

 pine is much more susceptible to fires in early youth than the longleaf, 

 and escapes only because of its ability to grow in moist locations. 

 During drouth, fires in these locations play havoc with the pine 

 stands. 



Cutting in the southern forests need not be destructive. In some 

 places greater care in logging may be required than in others; on the 

 whole, it should not be difficult to utilize both the timber and the 



