A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 931 



by these studies the loss averaged 417 board feet per acre. By 1930 

 this had shrunk to 226 board feet per acre. It is possible, but has 

 not been definitely determined, that insect injury would be reduced 

 by passing over all the stands as rapidly as possible with a light cut- 

 ting in order to eliminate the most susceptible trees. 



FUTURE OWNERSHIP DISTRIBUTION OF THE PACIFIC COAST FORESTS 



Competent local observers believe private ownership of forests on 

 the Pacific coast will shrink within the next generation to 8 million 

 acres, or less than one fourth the present figure. This appears to be a 

 matter on which a dependable prediction cannot be made. If there 

 is not a sufficient body of enterprisers to take advantage of the oppor- 

 tunities for operating these highly productive forests contin- 

 uously, in the course of tune the areas will automatically revert to 

 some type of public ownership. This will take place through the 

 tax-delinquency route if not otherwise. It is intolerable that these 

 last magnificient forest areas should become waste lands stripped of 

 their stands and degraded by ruthless cutting and fire. This would 

 be too great a price for the preservation of individual initiative. It 

 would in fact constitute the irrevocable extinction of individual initia- 

 tive as applying to this resource. 



On the other hand it has been abundantly proved that public owner- 

 ship is capable of permanently preserving -the productivity of these 

 forests. If private ownership cannot preserve their productivity, it is 

 possible to perpetuate the opportunity for individual initiative in the 

 manifold activities connected with harvesting forest raw materials on 

 public lands and with the diversified manufacturing enterprises using 

 such materials. 



In order to bring to an end the numerous losses incident to the log- 

 ging methods of the past 20 years these practices should be stopped 

 forthwith, by whatever means necessary. Various methods of stop- 

 ping them are discussed elsewhere in this report. Private, State, and 

 Federal agencies concerned should then enter into a thoroughgoing 

 cooperative study of the whole region, unit by unit. The study should 

 lead to conclusions as to which of the several agencies, private, State, 

 and Federal, should handle each productive unit. No agency should 

 undertake to handle any unit unless it is prepared to keep the unit in 

 permanent producing condition and thus can accept the full responsi- 

 bility that from now on should be irrevocably associated with the 

 privilege of ownership of our remaining natural resources. 



FORESTS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION 



(Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, 

 Colorado, and Arizona) 



STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE FORESTS 



The privately owned forest area in the Rocky Mountain region is 

 estimated at 12,479,000 acres, of which 1,880,000 is poor to nonre- 

 stocking, 1,556,000 fair to satisfactory restocking, 2,711,000 cord- 

 wood, and 6,332,000 saw timber. (See table 1.) Roughly, one half 

 the privately owned forest land is occupied by saw timber and bears 

 an estimated stand of approximately 51 billion board feet. Farm 

 woodlands total 1,456,000 acres. Of the remaining 11,023,000 acres 



