THE AREA WHICH CAN AND SHOULD BE USED FOR FORESTRY 



By C. EDWARD BEHRE, Director, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, and 

 E. N. MUNNS, Chief, Division of Silvics 



CONTENTS 



Page 



The total area available for forestry 1231 



Objectives in forest land use 1233 



The land needed for forest uses 1233 



The land needed for recreation 1234 



The land needed for watershed protection 1234 



The land needed for wild life 1235 



The land needed for range and livestock 1235 



The land needed for timber production 1235 



Balancing forest-land use objectives 1238 



THE TOTAL AREA AVAILABLE FOR FORESTRY 



To estimate the area in the United States that is available for 

 forestry, it is necessary to review acreage totals developed in preceding 

 sections. In the section, Forest Land, the Basic Resource, commercial 

 forest land has been estimated at 494.9 million acres after allowing 11 

 million acres as reserves for parks and other purely recreational, edu- 

 cational, or commemorative purposes. Chaparral, open woodland of 

 stunted trees, and other forest land chiefly valuable for other purposes 

 than timber was estimated at 108.7 million acres, largely in the terri- 

 tory bordering the deserts and in the alpine zone in the high moun- 

 tains. Although this area has little potential commercial value for 

 timber production, much of it has considerable or high economic 

 value for the protection of watersheds, as range for livestock, as a local 

 source of fuel wood, fence posts, etc., or it may contribute substantially 

 to the scenic attractions of the country. These estimates bring the 

 total of forest land in the United States at present to 614.6 million 

 acres. To estimate the total for the future, certain trends in land use 

 must be taken into account. 



For a number of years land used for agriculture has been showing 

 a net decrease. It is true that even in sections of the East abandon- 

 ment of some lands is being offset by the clearing and cultivation of 

 others; but the trend is very clear in all sections east of the Great 

 Plains. As estimated by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics in 

 the section, The Agricultural Land Available for Forestry, 51.7 

 million acres in the forested country of the East now included in the 

 agricultural classification is available for forestry. About half of this 

 area (25.7 million acres) is at present classified as crop lands on aban- 

 doned farms, 11 million acres is idle or fallow crop land on operating 

 farms, and 15 million is in unplowable pasture essentially submarginal 

 in character. In addition it is estimated by the Forest Service that 3 

 million acres of treeless land in the region not covered in the section 

 referred to will support tree growth if planted and that distinct social 

 and economic advantages may result from devoting it to forestry. 



1231 



