1348 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



and Soils, the Reclamation Service, the War Department, Federal 

 or State power authorities, a State, a city, an association of water 

 users, or any other group or individuals whose interests would be 

 affected by the treatment of forests in a State other than their own. 

 So far as practicable classification should be carried out under a com- 

 prehensive and systematic plan, rather than in a hit-or-miss fashion 

 on the basis of individual applications. Those areas should be classi- 

 fied first which the most obviously have protective value of more than 

 local significance. The classification should be made only after an 

 examination by experts, and after all interested parties have had an 

 opportunity to be hea,rd in support of or in opposition to the classi- 

 fication. 



Logically, the Federal Government should have authority to prevent 

 devastation of any forest within a classified Federal protection zone, 

 regardless of its ownership. Ordinarily, a forest owned by a State, 

 county, or municipality would be conservatively managed without 

 Federal interference. In the comparatively few instances where this 

 might not be done, it is probable that a sufficient degree of control 

 would readily be^ relinquished to the Government in return for equi- 

 table assistance in fire protection, reforestation, and road building. 

 This contingency could be taken care of by authorizing the Federal 

 Board to enter into cooperative agreements with States, counties, or 

 municipalities under which their forests within Federal protection 

 zones would be handled in a manner approved by the Board and would 

 then be entitled to the same Federal contributions as those granted for 

 private forests. 



RESTRICTIONS ON MANAGEMENT 



Restrictions should be based on the general principles, which should 

 be incorporated in the law, that the forest must be maintained in such 

 a condition that it will continue to afford protection against erosion, 

 floods, and drought, and that it may not be handled in such a manner 

 as to jeopardize its own continued existence or to endanger neighboring 

 protection forests, forests belonging to the Federal Government, or 

 forests in other States. The same principles would apply in the case 

 of forests along the Canadian border, where mismanagement might 

 cause injury to forests or other property in Canada. 



Methods of handling which tend to increase risk of fire, windfall, 

 insects, etc., should not be allowed. Deforestation of more than a 

 very small area (perhaps 5 or 10 acres) of these protection forests 

 should be allowed only by special permission of the enforcement 

 agency (with right of appeal to the Board). Such permission should 

 be granted only after examination on the ground, public hearing, and 

 agreement by the owner to reforest the land within a definite period 

 if it ceases to be utilized for other purposes. In case the land is par- 

 ticularly susceptible to erosion, permission to clear should be contin- 

 gent upon the owner's agreement to adopt preventive measures, such 

 as contour plowing or terracing. 



Detailed regulations and restrictions should not be prescribed in 

 the law. These should be worked out for each locality by the enforce- 

 ment agency, in consultation with State or local advisory boards com- 

 posed of forest owners, State forest officers, representatives of munici- 

 palities, and other interested parties. The Federal Board should 

 decide in case of disagreement between the local boards and the 

 enforcement agency. The regulation should cover such matters as 



