1264 



A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



When full effect is given to existing plans in the New England, 

 Middle Atlantic, and Lake regions, the State forests will include about 

 11.3 percent of the total forest area in these regions, whereas in the 

 southern group of States they will include not over one sixteenth of 

 1 percent. 



TABLE 2. Present and prospective area of State forests 



Less formal plans and programs, based on appraisals of what is 

 desirable, indicate that if possible the officials of States wish to 

 increase the eventual^ extent of State forests to 51,000,000 acres. 

 This is exactly four tunes as much as contemplated under existing 

 formal plans. 



Table 3 summarizes the present ownership in national forests, and 

 for the eastern States shows the additional areas in formally approved 

 purchase units, in units known to be urgently needed but not formally 

 established, and the total national forest area when both these plans 

 have been carried to completion. 



In the East the total area now owned is 7,218,000 acres, 1 of which 

 4,704,000 acres are primarily for watershed protection and 2,514,000 

 for timber production. The additional area planned in approved and 

 tentative programs is 7,639,000 acres. The total ownership when 

 these plans shall have been carried to completion will be 14,857,000 

 acres, or less than 5 percent of the total forest area of the East. 



The present ownership in the West is 132,786,000 acres of which 

 68,375,000 acres are commercial forest land. This is about 52 per- 

 cent of the total commercial forest area of the West. It is definitely 

 planned to acquire about 11,000,000 acres within the forest boundaries 

 and an additional 7,500,000 acres outside of present boundaries. The 

 total national forest ownership in the West will then be 151,286,000 

 acres, compared to 14,857,000 acres in the East. 



TABLE 3. Present and prospective area of national forests 

 [In thousands of acres] 



1 Includes Wyoming. 



i Exclusive of 14,000 acres in Puerto Rico. 



