A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1237 



forestry and forest land now denuded, presumably somewhat as is 

 indicated in figure IB. It is possible that watershed requirements 

 might not be adequately met on the lands left idle and open in this 

 way. 



POSSIBLE FUTURE STATUS OF AREAS FOR MANAGEMENT 



With the available productive area increased by natural restocking 

 and planting as described in the preceding paragraphs, a total of 459.3 

 million acres is indicated as the area which will probably be involved 

 in timber production. As pointed out in the discussion of Timber 

 Growth in the section on Present and Potential Timber Resources, it 

 is reasonable to expect that the management afforded these lands will 

 vary according to the play of economic forces in relation to ownership, 

 location, and productive capacity of the lands. 



In the first place there are included in these 459.3 million acres 

 considerable areas so remote with respect to economical development 

 of transportation or of such low productive capacity that it is doubtful 

 if they will ever become economically available. This comprises 

 much of the rough and relatively inaccessible land in the high moun- 

 tains of the West and in the Appalachian region which may not be 

 included in recreational reserves. These areas for the most part are 

 not only unfavorably situated with respect to cost of logging, but also 

 bear timber of poor quality and relatively slow growth. In many 

 instances, as a result of their treatment in the past, the stands are 

 scattered, the trees are of poor form, or valuable species have been 

 replaced by species of little value. Other areas of low productive 

 capacity, although they may have supported a merchantable stand of 

 virgin timber as a result of centuries of growth, offer very little pros- 

 pect of producing another crop soon enough to be of assistance in 

 balancing the Nation's timber budget. Many of the swamps in the 

 Lake States, and certain poorly drained or infertile lands in the South, 

 as in southern Florida, are in this category. 



Altogether it is estimated that there may be 82.7 million acres rela- 

 tively unfavorable for forest management in the present commercial 

 forest area. Since 13 million acres of this is assumed to be included 

 in the area proposed for recreational reserves, a balance of 69.7 

 million acres of this sort would remain in the timber-producing area. 

 This land will not as a rule justify anything more than protection 

 against fire and can only be counted on for a nominal amount of 

 growth, estimated at about half a billion cubic feet per year. 



On practically all of the remainder of the timber-producing land 

 scientific forest management should be applied as rapidly and inten- 

 sively as possible. But no matter how successful efforts along this 

 line may be, there will doubtless always remain certain areas upon 

 which no effort will be made to maintain or increase production. It 

 may be expected that growth on these areas will be maintained about 

 as at present by nature aided somewhat by the extension of protection. 

 In order to give recognition to this situation, 40.7 million acres is 

 classified as receiving only simple protection although favorably 

 situated for forest management. Growth on these areas, calculated 

 at the average rate obtaining at present in each region, amounts to a 

 little over 830 million cubic feet per year. 



Based on the foregoing assumptions and estimates, there would thus 

 remain about 348.9 million acres constituting the area on which 



