A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1265 



HOW MUCH FOREST LAND WILL PRIVATE OWNERS 

 RETAIN AND USE IN ACCORDANCE WITH PUBLIC 

 INTEREST? 



It has already been said that the original basis for private owner- 

 ship of most forest lands was the accumulated merchantable timber 

 which could be converted into cash. The widespread breakdown of 

 private ownership, involving many millions of acres of cut-over land, 

 shows clearly that forest-land owners are reappraising their proper- 

 ties from the standpoint of their probable value for timber growing. 



FACTORS INFLUENCING PERMANENT PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF 

 INDUSTRIAL TIMBERLAND 



Each owner, if he consciously desires to hold and manage a forest 

 property, must weigh and appraise a number of economic factors 

 which influence profits. His motives for holding the land may be, 

 for example, recreation, grazing, private hunting preserves, or future 

 speculation values, but in the majority of cases he will look to timber 

 products as the source of revenue and will measure the profitableness 

 of ownership in terms of this commodity. Some of the more signifi- 

 cant factors which must guide him in his decision are enumerated in 

 the following as illustrating the complexity and variety of a forest 

 enterprise. 



COST OF PRODUCTION 



A large group of factors is involved in the marketing of forest 

 products. Whether the markets for sawn lumber and pulp are close 

 to the forest property, as in New England, or distant, as in the north- 

 ern Rockies, is important. So is the question whether markets for 

 bulky low-value products, such as cordwood, which are harvested 

 during the saw timber rotation, are generally close, as in the Middle 

 Atlantic region, or distant, as in most of the Pacific region. In the 

 South, the production of naval stores of small bulk and high value, 

 during the rotation, is a favorable factor which many other forest 

 regions lack. In parts of the South, too, salable by-products are 

 obtainable from small trees at an early age, an advantage to private 

 forestry largely absent in the western regions. 



Whether regional markets are likely to absorb the future produc- 

 tion within the region, as in the New England, Middle Atlantic, 

 Central, and Lake States, or whether export will be necessary, as in 

 the Pacific region, likewise affects the outlook for private forestry. 

 The existence of roads, so that intrarotation products can readily be 

 reached, as in several of the eastern regions, gives an advantage not 

 found in the West. 



Established markets for certain forest products, as in New England, 

 are a great asset. In a few regions of the East, integrated forest 

 utilization centers, absorbing all kinds of forest products, have been 

 established, and give owners of forest lands an assurance of markets 

 that they lack where products must go long distances to the general 

 competitive markets. None of these highly important marketing 

 factors are either greatly or rapidly affected by public action. 



Another group of factors is involved in the private owner's con- 

 sideration of production costs. Whether growth is relatively slow, 

 as in many of the Central region hardwood forests, or rapid, as in 



