A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1287 



In addition to the forest land, fully 50 million acres of the abandoned 

 farm land previously referred to is estimated to lie within the water- 

 shed influence zones. The detailed reports on watersheds designate 

 many regions where a principal watershed protection problem centers 

 in revegetation and conservative management of abandoned farm 

 lands. This acreage, therefore, is to a high degree a potential field 

 for public acquisition, since such land is seldom attractive to private 

 owners. 



DEGREE TO WHICH PRIVATE OWNERSHIP IS CONSERVING 

 WATERSHED VALUES 



The studies of the Nation's watersheds recommend on the basis of 

 present conditions, the acquisition by the public east of the Plains of 

 92.4 million acres of private commercial and noncommercial forest 

 land. These figures approximate the desirable program to meet 

 urgent public needs as they are appraised today. The suggested 

 acreage includes only major-influence land that is not being managed, 

 or that according to all indications will not be managed, in a manner 

 reasonably satisfactory from the point of view of watershed protec- 

 tion. In the Northeast, where watershed values are in general sub- 

 stantially protected on lands in private ownership, only the most 

 critical areas are recommended for acquisition; in the South, where 

 little progress has been made on private lands even in fire protection, 

 a much larger proportion of the major-influence land is included. 

 Only 133,400,000 acres of forest land (commercial and noncommercial) 

 out of a total of 202 million acres of private land having major water- 

 shed value is suggested as the public acquisition program. None of 

 the 95 million acres having moderate influence or of the 148 million 

 acres having slight to no influence has been recommended for acqui- 

 sition for watershed protection. Of the 444,357,000 acres of privately 

 owned forest land only 30 percent has been included in the suggested 

 acquisition program. According to repeated indications in the water- 

 shed reports, unless existing practices are checked or modified, this 

 estimate may need to be greatly enlarged in the not distant future. 



The details of the suggested public acquisition programs by States 

 and regions are summarized in table 13. The total of 114,200,000 

 acres for the watersheds east of the Plains, large as it is, includes only 

 lands of major influence on which public interest clearly will not be 

 met by private ownership . The watershed reports indicate repeatedly 

 that existing practices, unless checked or modified, may add largely 

 to this total in the not distant future. 



These figures are necessarily approximations, and would undoubt- 

 edly be modified by more detailed field examinations. But they 

 serve to focus attention on the very large area on which public acquisi- 

 tion and management of forest units is needed at once. Quite evi- 

 dently, the cumulative effect of many decades of unplanned land use 

 has created a very large immediate problem, and one in which public 

 acquisition must be prepared to undertake programs far more exten- 

 sive than those previously considered. 



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