1038 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



or other agency responsible for enforcing the law may initiate the 

 classification and may be required to make the field examination and 

 report its recommendations, but it generally does not have the power 

 to render the final decision as to classification. 



4. Cutting in classified protection forests may be done only with 

 permission of the competent authorities. The methods of cutting and 

 of utilizing the forage and other products which may be allowed in 

 such forests are specified in some detail either in the law or in regula- 

 tions of the supervisory authority. Reforestation of cut-over areas 

 is compulsory. Management plans and employment of trained forest- 

 ers may be required but generally are more or less optional. An 

 owner handling his forest according to an approved plan and under the 

 supervision of a trained forester is not required to get a special permit 

 for each operation. 



5. Gross misuse which destroys or seriously impairs the produc- 

 tivity of the land is generally assumed to be inimical to the public 

 welfare. The object of control over other than protection forests is 

 generally not to compel owners to produce any particular kind or 

 quantity of material, but to insure that the land will be kept in a pro- 

 ductive condition. Sustained yield management is usually not 

 required, and control over methods of management and utilization is 

 reduced to a minimum. A permit is usually required for deforesta- 

 tion, but it is granted if the land is suitable for other use and will be 

 utilized productively. Otherwise, reforestation by natural or arti- 

 ficial means is required. Working plans are usually optional with the 

 owner, and are primarily for his own protection or convenience. 

 Although the public exercises or holds in the background definite 

 mandatory powers to prevent destruction of nonprotection forests, it 

 attempts to bring about good management largely through educating 

 and cooperating with the owners. 



6. Public control in many countries is democratized and decentral- 

 ized by being put under the general supervision of local or provincial 

 boards or commissions on which forest owners, technicians, and 

 administrative officials, and in some instances the local population, 

 are represented. A few countries, mostly small ones, have only one 

 central commission for the entire country. In some countries these 

 boards have their own administrative and inspection forces and work 

 independently of the state forest service. In other countries the 

 boards exercise general supervision but actual administration is by 

 officers of the state forest services. 



IS FURTHER PUBLIC REGULATION DESIRABLE IN THE 



UNITED STATES 



PRACTICES IN NEED OF CORRECTION 



In order to determine whether further public control over private 

 forests in the United States may be desirable, it is necessary first to 

 inquire what controllable conditions or practices threaten to destroy 

 the forests, to hinder or prevent their replacement after cutting, or to 

 render them less productive. These may be classified as follows : 



(1) Failure to provide effective protection against fire, as well as 

 practices which cause fires directly or which increase the fire hazard, 

 and also the failure to adopt reasonable measures for preventing and 

 suppressing fires. 



