1256 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE BASIS FOK PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF FOREST LANDS 



The bulk of the commercial forest-land acreage is in private owner- 

 ship. The 127 million acres on farms are held by a multitude of indi- 

 viduals, in the vast majority of cases, as a mere incident to the pri- 

 mary purpose of maintaining a farm. 



The 270 million acres of private commercial forest land owned by 

 other than farmers were for the most part acquired by lumbermen and 

 others whose sole concern was to obtain title to virgin stumpage which 

 could quickly be exploited and turned into cash, either by operating it 

 themselves or by selling it to others. This was one of the traditional 

 means of acquiring a fortune, and in the vast majority of cases, the 

 individual had liUle interest in the land, except to convert virgin 

 timber into cash. In this process, it was to be expected that forests 

 would ultimately be converted into vast areas of denuded and poorly 

 and partly stocked cut-over land which has accumulated at an ever 

 increasing pace. 



The existing extent and geographical distribution of forest land in 

 private ownership is a result of the liberal land disposal laws and 

 policies on the part of the Nation and the States and the desire of 

 individuals to enter what appeared the very profitable business of 

 lumbering and timber exploitation. The land was acquired for the 

 disposal of the standing timber, with no regard for future timber 

 crops under any form of forest management. 



In the pioneer period a particular tract of timber passed into private 

 ownership when some individual thought he saw a chance to make 

 money out of it. Now a particular tract of cut-over land from which 

 the exploitable timber values have been removed remains in private 

 ownership only when some individual sees in it a chance to make 

 money either from growing timber or from the production of some 

 other salable crop. 



Public policy was never able to force into private ownership large 

 areas of low grade or inaccessible timberland. Public policy through 

 liberal laws could and did make it easy to acquire timberland. Public 

 policy can make it easier for the owner to hold his land, through 

 various forms of public aid. But no public action can force forest 

 lands now in private ownership to remain in that status. 



A statistical tabulation of existing distribution of ownership by 

 States, regions, or the Nation is merely a current record and has 

 only slight evidential value in forecasting future distribution. Even 

 the most superficial survey of trends discloses, however, the large 

 acreage of tax-reverted or tax-delinquent land, and the large acreage 

 of virgin stumpage and cut-over land now offered for distress sale, 

 and proves that large numbers of owners have decided or are deciding 

 that continued ownership is a losing game. 



THE BASIS FOR PUBLIC OWNERSHIP 



As indicated by table 1, publicly owned commercial forest lands are 

 widely distributed geographically and make up 20 percent of the 

 total commercial forest area. The continuing land acquisition 

 programs of the Federal Government and of many States and local 

 governments indicate widespread belief that public ownership of at 

 least certain forest lands is preferable or supplemental to private 

 ownership. What is the basis for public ownership? 



