A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1251 



legislation to exchange national-forest lands or timber for private 

 lands, and under these laws the western national forests are being 

 consolidated and somewhat extended. Increases in the net area of the 

 western national forests through such exchanges has so far amounted 

 to 814,685 acres. Under exchange procedure, many areas of cut-over 

 land on which forest values will be either protected or restored, are 

 coming into Federal ownership and at the same time national-forest 

 properties are being consolidated. 



Opportunities for consolidating the western national forests through 

 exchange are limited both because private owners as a rule are not 

 interested in exchanging their lands for other forest lands and because 

 the quantity of national-forest timber available to exchange for cut- 

 over lands is limited. While considerable additional progress can be 

 made toward the consolidation of these Federal properties through 

 exchanges, they cannot be relied upon for the complete consolidation 

 of forest lands in the western national forests. 



Exchanges are of value primarily in consolidating and building up 

 feasible administrative units where intermingled holdings of several 

 ownerships exist. Their possibilities have not been generally recog- 

 nized, but in any large scale adjustment of ownership of forest land 

 they can be applied extensively. In many regions they are the most 

 feasible methods by which solid blocks of single ownerships may be 

 built up for efficient and economical forest management. Extensive 

 possibilities exist for exchanges between the following agencies: 



1. The Federal Government and private owners, to allow each to 

 build up solid blocks of forest or to permit the consolidation of na- 

 tional-forest lands at the expense of Federal timber and at a saving of 

 Federal appropriations, or through the exchange of Federal lands of 

 higher value for agriculture than for timber production. 



2. The Federal Government and States, to allow each to con- 

 solidate holdings for public forests. 



3. The States and private owners, to accomplish the same purpose 

 as stated for Federal exchanges. 



4. Private owners for mutual consolidation of holdings. 



No definite program of exchanges can be set down at this time. 

 As public acquisition proceeds, either through purchase or tax 

 delinquency, it is safe to predict that exchanges will play an impor- 

 tant part in consolidations and that many million acres will change 

 ownership by this method. 



GIFTS 



In recent years, some gifts of land have been made to public 

 agencies by private owners. Gifts of forest lands to be incorporated 

 into public forests, whether to Federal, State, or local governments, 

 should be encouraged. Through such gifts of land and timber, land 

 with timber reserved, or of cut-over land, conservative management 

 and effective protection of the areas involved are assured. Gifts of 

 land to public agencies are preferable to tax delinquency with no 

 intention of redemption. 



ADJUSTMENTS BY PRIVATE OWNERS 



Adjustments in land use are taking place and will continue in con- 

 nection with the practice of forestry by private owners. There will be 

 shifts in ownership through purchase and exchange to build up feasible 



