A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



1205 



THE FEDERAL INTEREST IN STATE FORESTRY 



The most important reasons which foresters and other prominent 

 advocates have assigned for Federal participation in forestry activities 

 are the following : 



1 . The provision of an adequate timber supply. 



2. Erosion and flood control. 



3. Safeguarding scenic and recreational interest. 



To what degree these objectives are of concern to the Federal 

 Government is a question deserving a brief analysis at this point. 



THE INTERSTATE INTEREST IN TIMBER SUPPLY 



In table 1 are shown, by regions, estimates of the present annual 

 cut of timber, present annual amount of wood used, and the ultimate 

 annual growth of wood that may reasonably be expected under such 

 handling of the forest lands as would presumably result if the objec- 

 tives set up in this report were attained. (See section "Present and 

 Potential Timber Resources." Subsection on " Timber Growth.") 

 These estimates afford some idea of what the situation may be when 

 all or most of our remaining virgin timber has been harvested and the 

 country is faced with the necessity of balancing its consumption against 

 production. 



Here the interdependence of the various regions of the country is 

 plainly indicated by the figures of present consumption and present 

 cut. While the totals roughly balance, in no region are forest demand 

 and forest supply even approximately equal. 



Furthermore, even though a State may produce a total much larger 

 than it consumes, no one State produces all the forest products that it 

 needs and uses. In every State there is need for woods of a kind or 

 quality which it does not produce, and which are more cheaply or 

 conveniently obtained from other States. The Pacific Coast States, 

 for example, contain only small quantities of hardwoods and must 

 secure their main supply from the South and East. Table 2 proves the 

 reality and magnitude of this interstate dependence. It shows that 

 in the distribution of all sawed lumber used in 1928 more than half of 

 it crossed State lines. The problem of timber supply is thus obviously 

 a matter of concern not only to individual States but to the Nation as 

 a whole. 



TABLE 1. Present annual timber cut, consumption, and theoretical ultimate future 

 growth of timber in the United States 



