1274 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In the Lake States the rapid progress of land abandonment by 

 private owners indicates clearly that unstocked and partly stocked 

 forest lands are generally unattractive for permanent private owner- 

 ship. 



Possibly some two thirds of the 63 million acres fair to satisfactory 

 restocking area and one third of the cord wood area may pass finally 

 to public ownership. On this basis the analysis indicates about 115 

 million acres of the 270 million total as the eventual area in public 

 ownership. 



ADEQUACY OF ESTIMATES 



These estimates may be materially wide of the mark; the true 

 answer cannot be determined for many years. But it is essential to 

 recognize that a powerful and large-scale trend away from private 

 ownership and into public ownership is already under way and that 

 it is a natural phenomenon, arising from fundamental conditions. 

 It is distinctly not an artificial trend, induced by political theory or 

 by any efforts of public forestry agencies to displace or drive out 

 private ownership. ^ 



This conclusion is inevitable as the sharp differences between the 

 several States and regions are examined. Where forest lands are in 

 small ownership, close to markets, where the products of young and 

 small trees are readily salable, and thus where the owner of forest 

 land can obtain current income at least sufficient to offset current 

 expense, there land abandonment and distress sales of cut-over lands 

 to public agencies are not major problems. On the contrary, where 

 forests and markets are far apart, where only the products of large 

 trees are salable, and where consequently the owner cannot offset 

 his current expenses through current income, there the private 

 owners are getting rid of cut-over lands or intend to do so. The 

 question, then, is not whether it is desirable that forest land remain 

 in private ownership to the degree that now obtains, or to some other 

 specified degree. With or without public policy or financial aid, or 

 any other conscious and deliberate action, individual private owners 

 are deciding their own course of action. 



It is manifest that past and current abuse of forest land by the 

 owners has enormously reduced the acreage on which even a gambling 

 chance of economically successful private forestry remains. These 

 destructive practices heedless logging methods, wholesale burning of 

 slash, clear cutting, and inadequate fire control have been recognized 

 for years by forest landowners, conservationists, and foresters. The 

 remedies recommended and applied so far have consisted principally 

 of public aid in fire control and, in some places, local regulation laws 

 requiring fire control and leaving of seed trees. Some private owners 

 in every forest region have on their own initiative applied forestry 

 practices to their properties, but only a very small fraction of the total 

 private forest land has thus been handled. The accumulated 55 

 million acres of unproductive cut-over forest land taken alone is in 

 large part the answer to the question whether major changes in land 

 ownership are desirable. 



If public aid consistent with national policy could keep lands now 

 cut over or to be cut over in privates ownership, under forestry 

 mangement, and producing forest crops, no problem would exist. 

 But the conclusion is inescapable that as to a very large area, the 



