A NATIONAL PLAN FOB AMERICAN FORESTRY 689 



in which experiment stations nave already been established. On no 

 single forest type is the present attack adequate. In only three 

 regions is a sizeable attack on the forest-fire problem under way, and 

 even in these it falls far short of what would be desirable. 



In the important field of forest regulation no investigative work is 

 now being done, as has already been indicated. There is a very 

 distinct possibility of worth-while research contributions to forest 

 engineering. Very little has as yet been attempted in the broad and 

 promising field of forest genetics. Shade tree and park forestry is 

 still another broad field which is hardly being touched, despite its 

 place in the public interest. 



Forest range investigations are confined to four western regions, in 

 two of which work has been started only during the fiscal year 1932. 

 In all of the remaining western regions the field is practically un- 

 touched. The range problem is also important in at least two eastern 

 regions, the Middle West and the South. The southern problem, 

 particularly that in longleaf pine, is triangular, involving range use 

 and timber growing, and the relationship of fire to both. The possi- 

 bilities of artificial reseeding of ranges and of the development through 

 plant breeding of improved forage plants are being largely or alto- 

 gether neglected. 



Many additional experimental forests and ranges must be estab- 

 lished to carry out the silvicultural, range, and erosion-stream flow 

 investigations indicated, and all will require funds. In fact, with the 

 funds now available it is not possible satisfactorily to handle the 

 experimental areas already selected. 



Economic problems growing out of changing conditions in forest 

 and agricultural land use, in the possibilities of growing timber and 

 other forest crops, and in the forest industries are, particularly during 

 this period of financial stress, appearing far more rapidly than they 

 can be solved. Long-established foundations are being swept away 

 and what is to take their place is being left entirely to the play of 

 blind forces. Other groups of problems which have important eco- 

 nomic aspects arise out of the administration of large holdings of 

 forest lands such, for example, as the national forests, and include 

 forest regulation. The economic and sociological importance of 

 forests in recreation is increasing rapidly as a result of such things as 

 the automobile, good roads, and a large increase in leisure for practi- 

 cally all classes of people. 



Forest products are falling behind in the competition with other 

 materials because for one thing less is known of their properties and 

 how to use them. It is conceivable that forest products research can 

 be made one of the chief competitive weapons to maintain and increase 

 consumption, and hence of an aggressive, constructive, plan-wise 

 effort to make certain the use of forest land, and to keep available for 

 public use a material of high intrinsic value. The indications are 

 many that the time has come when such aggressive efforts are abso- 

 lutely essential to insure full and satisfactory forest-land use. The 

 effort of the Federal Government to maintain and enlarge the con- 

 sumption of forest products is confined to forest products investiga- 

 tions. It is now and has always been seriously out of balance with the 

 effort to grow timber. 



A greatly enlarged scale of work in practically the entire utilization 

 field is called for with particular emphasis on the chemical and 



