1326 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



important that expenditures made give returns either in direct 

 income or direct public benefits commensurate with the investment. 

 But this does not in any measure preclude the possibilities of creating 

 sustained incomes from public forests sufficient to cover costs. Public 

 policy now recognizes that timber, forage, and similar direct products 

 or uses should be paid for by the immediate beneficiary. We have 

 not yet established the principle that other services such as water, 

 recreation, etc., which are products of the forest, be likewise paid for 

 in large part by the direct user. This latter source of income is 

 suggested merely as a possible plan of financing the public forest 

 enterprise. 



It must be again reiterated that the estimated revenues are based, 

 if the full program is consummated, on forests built up with growing 

 stock capable of a sustained-yield income. The possibilities are that 

 income for current expenses may be reached as early as within 15 to 

 30 years, but incomes to retire capital investments must in the nature 

 of the enterprise be deferred almost to the end of a tree rotation. 



CONTRIBUTION TO THE STATES 



Under the existing practice 25 percent of the direct gross revenues 

 from the national forests are returned through the State treasurers 

 to the counties in which the forests are situated. The net return to 

 the Federal Government would therefore be 75 percent of the above 

 gross income. 



RETURNS FROM STATE AND LOCAL FORESTS 



The section, "Probable Future Distribution of Forest Land Owner- 

 ship", shows the prospective regional distribution of State and local 

 forests. Out of about 100 million acres in State and local public 

 ownership, the probable portions of the areas which are expected to 

 be under timber management are about 10 million acres under 

 intensive and 35 million acres under ^ ex tensive management. The 

 acreage costs of State forestry were estimated earlier in this section to 

 be comparable to those for Federal forestry, and it can be likewise 

 assumed that returns will be similar. The aggregate intensive forestry 

 return is estimated on this basis at about $24,000,000; the extensive 

 at $30,000,000; making a total of possibly $54,000,000 from timber 

 production if and when this program is carried out. Owing to the 

 expectation that much State acquisition will arise through tax delin- 

 quency of lands which have previously been stripped of their timber, 

 it is to be expected that a long period, often a tree generation, will 

 elapse before productivity can be fully restored. Eventually, how- 

 ever, these areas can be counted on to yield large revenues as well as 

 to perform the important functions of supporting local industry. 



On State properties, opportunity to lease grazing rights is the same 

 as on Federal lands, but in those regions where range Evestock raising 

 is an important industry, few State forests exist or are expected to be 

 created, and consequently not much return can be expected from this 

 source. ^ States may, however, control important sites for water 

 power, irrigation, and domestic water supplies. In such cases the 

 decision will be whether to obtain a revenue from such development 

 or to grant free public use. No doubt, use of State-owned sites for 

 such purposes can be made a source of revenue. Recreational use of 



