A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1157 



the public may participate in the needful processes of forest conserva- 

 tion as related to such areas. By payment of higher prices the con- 

 suming public would create conditions more favorable to forest con- 

 servation, but it would not by that process be in a position to definitely 

 dictate and enforce the minimum requirements of sound forest-land 

 management, except by enactment of regulatory legislation, and the 

 establishment of the necessary processes and machinery for its en- 

 forcement. 



If the public must, in fact, contribute more fully toward the main- 

 tenance of acceptable conditions on forest lands now in private 

 ownership, the preferable alternative might be for the public to take 

 over, control, and manage the parts of the privately owned timber- 

 lands which by the menace of then* actual or potential utilization 

 cause the chaotic condition now prevailing in the lumber industry 

 and the consequent antisocial waste and wreckage of natural values. 

 By such a course the public would secure definite values in return for 

 its cash outlays; would create by administrative action rather than 

 new and only partially tested regulatory power the conditions essential 

 to national security and progress, and would derive and enjoy the 

 concrete social benefits and financial returns ultimately obtainable 

 from the properties thus acquired. 



The best data available show that of the total estimated stand of 

 saw- timber in the United States, 79 percent is in the Pacific coast, 

 northern Rocky Mountain and southern Rocky Mountain regions. 

 The Pacific coast and northern Rocky Mountain regions alone contain 

 71 percent of the total stand. It is these regions primarily that are 

 responsible for the overproduction of lumber which tends so strongly 

 to disrupt normal processes of forest utilization and management, 

 not only within their limits but nationally. The reason is not far to 

 seek. Over 47 percent of the timber supply in these three western 

 regions, 618 billion board feet exclusive of that in farm wood lots, is in 

 private ownership. This is 20 times or more the normal annual con- 

 sumption of the entire Nation. 



In recent extensive studies made by the Forest Service, the stump- 

 age in the western regions was classified into three zones, on the basis 

 of 5-year average costs of conversion or manufacture and average 

 selling prices for the products. The 5-year periods were from 1925 to 

 1929 in some instances; 1926 to 1930 in others. Zone 1 included the 

 timber that on the bases indicated could be milled at a profit of 1 cent 

 or more per thousand board feet; zone 2, the timber which could only 

 be operated at a loss of from 1 cent to $5 per thousand feet; and zone 

 3, the timber where the operating loss would exceed $5 per thousand 

 feet. On these bases, the privately owned timber in the Pacific coast, 

 northern Rocky Mountain, and southern Rocky Mountain regions 

 divides as follows: Zone 1, 373,568,000,000 feet; zone 2, 172,067,000,- 

 000 feet; zone 3, 99,514,000,000 feet. Considering California, Oregon, 

 Washington, Idaho, and Montana, collectively, but excluding inferior 

 species such as larch and fir for which there is but a limited demand, 

 and excluding also, except in California, the private timber in farm 

 wood lots, the timber in private ownership is classified as follows: 

 Zone 1, 338,023,000,000 feet; zone 2, 155,953,000,000 feet, and zone 3, 

 85,749,000,000 feet; a total private holding of 579,725,000,000 board 

 feet hi the five States. 



