A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1311 



work is now allowed for in fixing the sale price of the sturapage; no 

 Federal cash expenditures are involved and no appropriations are 

 needed. To show actual costs, these additional expenditures have 

 been included in the calculations and charged off at 1 percent per year, 

 or as a capital investment in the land on a 100-year rotation. Since 

 the cutting on national forests will be materially larger in the future, 

 the cost for stand betterment in the course of selling and cutting 

 stumpage has been likewise increased; but this will not involve any 

 cash outlay, as it will be taken out of the sale price of stumpage. 



Many stands not in current timber sales need work that can 

 profitably be done and should be provided for. Thinnings of crowded 

 stands, girdling and removal of weed trees, elimination of hazards and 

 many other cultural improvements have all an important place in 

 forestry. Frequently such cultural operations will pay for themselves 

 currently. In many places, particularly in the eastern forests, 

 outlays for such work, even where no immediate returns are possible, 

 will pay big dividends in increased growth and quality increment of 

 the stand. Practically no expenditures are now incurred for such 

 activity. Recent preliminary estimates of the national forests show 

 that about 2 million acres can immediately be given cultured treat- 

 ment at an estimated cost of about $4,000,000. Detailed surveys will 

 undoubtedly reveal large additional acreages on which similar cultural 

 operations can profitably be made. This investment, amortized and 

 spread over the entire 161 million acres, would amount to about 0.248 

 cents per acre, and is considered as a capital investment. In the East 

 such treatment has been already initiated profitably by a number of 

 private timberland owners. 



A mere start has been made in planting on the national forests. 

 To bring unproductive lands into use and to provide additional 

 needed growth on sustained-yield units, 2,100,000 acres should be 

 planted during the next 10 or 20 years. The work wall cost about $10 

 per acre on the average, and will involve a total expenditure of about 

 $21,000,000. The cost for this work is charged off at the rate of 1 

 percent a year, and is considered as capital investment in the land 

 itself. Annual appropriations in the past few years have averaged 

 about $210,000, but to meet present needs five times this schedule is 

 a minimum requirement. The proposed cost per acre will be about 

 0.131 cents as against 0.019 cents at present, which represents the 

 amortized cost of planting work to date (table 1). This estimate 

 applies solely to existing national forests. Planting costs on possible 

 extensions of national forests is included in a later discussion. 



GRAZING 



Forage is an important and salable resource on 83 million of the 

 161 million acres in the national forests. When well regulated and 

 managed, the grazing of domestic livestock makes feasible the 

 harvesting of an annual crop which would otherwise go to waste; 

 it frequently reduces the fire danger by cropping inflammable fuel, 

 and thus lowers the cost of fire control. When properly controlled 

 it adds a fair annual income to a forest property without jeopardizing 

 other values in timber, watersheds, or recreation. This compara- 

 tively cheap forage maintains an important industry, adds value to 

 dependent farms and grazing lands outside of the national forests, 



