A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1347 



The decision as to classification should preferably be handled by a 

 State board, composed of qualified experts. It should be initiated 

 either by the board itself, or upon application of an interested State 

 department or of municipalities, associations, or individuals. 



The general requirements should also be formulated by the State 

 board. Both in the classification of protection forests and in the 

 formulation of restrictions on their management, the board should be 

 required to consult the forest owners as well as representatives of the 

 local communities or other parties whose interests may be involved. 

 The State forestry department should be charged with the specific 

 application and enforcement of the law, subject to appeal to the 

 board. 



Some, but by no means all of these protection forests will also be 

 classified as Federal protection forests, as provided below. In such 

 cases there should be no conflict of authority. Both State and 

 Federal governments should have concurrent jurisdiction to enforce 

 their respective requirements. Generally, however, the State and 

 Federal requirements will be similar. Where the State laws and 

 enforcement organization are adequate, the enforcement of Federal 

 requirements can be delegated to the State agency, subject to Federal 

 inspection and with appropriate Federal contribution toward the 

 costs. 



SCOPE OF FEDERAL REGULATION 



PROTECTION FORESTS 

 CLASSIFICATION 



The first step in a program of Federal regulation would be to pro- 

 vide for classifying and listing the forests that should be subject to 

 Federal control because of their relation to navigable waters, to 

 national defense, or to national forests, national parks, or other 

 national property, or in order to prevent damage to persons or property 

 beyond the boundaries of a State. These might be termed "Federal 

 protection forests." Appropriate legislation should prescribe the 

 general principles upon which the classification is to be based and the 

 general methods of procedure, and should set up a suitable agency 

 with authority actually to carry out the classification. The classifi- 

 cation itself is a quasi-legislative task. One method would be for 

 Congress itself to designate protection zones by law, somewhat as 

 additions to the national forests in certain western States have been 

 handled since 1907. This method has certain merits, but probably 

 would be unnecessarily cumbersome. A better way would be to 

 authorize a suitable impartial commission or board to decide upon 

 the classification. 



The National Forest Reservation Commission, which passes upon 

 proposed Federal purchases of forest land, might be reorganized as to 

 functions so as to become the classifying agency, under the name of 

 National (or Federal) Forestry Commission (or Board). This would 

 be appropriate and logical because the protection zones will correspond 

 in a general way to the areas within which the Government owns or is 

 acquiring forest land, and because a considerable portion of the pro- 

 tection forest now in private ownership may eventually be acquired 

 by the Government. 



The Board should classify protection zones on its own initiative, or 

 upon application by the Forest Service, the Bureau of Chemistry 



