1308 



A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The timbered forests, where active business is now carried on, have 

 generally the highest cost, both in fire control and resource manage- 

 ment, and correspondingly yield the greater revenue. The lower 

 costs are found on the units where grazing is the major resource, and 

 both resource management and fire control require minimum ex- 

 penditures. 



The per-acre costs cited above are based upon the total national- 

 forest area of the United States (Puerto Rico excluded). If the 

 Alaskan forests be excluded, as their alienation from many of the 

 economic and environmental conditions that affects costs in the 

 national forests of the States might warrant, the per-acre costs will 

 be somewhat higher, as shown in table 3. These higher costs are 

 somewhat more appropriate for estimating costs that may be in- 

 volved in future additions to national forests in the States and for 

 State forests. 



TABLE 3. Summary of present and proposed expenditures per acre for national 



forests in 31 States only 



ELEMENTS OF COST AND REASONS FOR NEEDED INCREASE 



In the management of forest lands as with any other property, a 

 balance must be struck between expenditures and returns. Fre- 

 quently inadequate expenditures will fail to show any returns while a 

 very sfight increase in costs may turn an unprofitable venture into a 

 good paying investment. The maximum returns from forest lands 

 require definite plans for sufficient current expenditures and outlays 

 for capital investment to insure future income. In the administration 

 of the national forests, returns and public benefits are of two kinds 

 those directly salable and producing revenues and others, as for 

 example watershed protection, which add to the general public welfare 

 but for which no service charges are made. Expenditures on the 

 national forests have been progressively increased in the past few 

 years. Further increases are urgently needed if the property is to be 

 built up to its potential possibilities in returns and public benefits. 



The increases in expenditures suggested for the national forests are 

 discussed in some detail, to indicate why such expenditures are war- 

 ranted in a national enterprise of this character. This discussion, 

 however, may also be helpful in appraising costs that other owners 

 of forest land may have to make to secure maximum returns from 

 forest-land management. The elements of cost for each maj or activity 

 are therefore briefly summarized. 



PROTECTION AGAINST FIRE 



The need for increasing the average per-acre expenditure for pro- 

 tection against fire is fully discussed in the section " Protection Against 

 Fire." Briefly, adequate fire control is the first essential step in 



