A FOREST RANGE PROGRAM 



By W. R. CHAPLINE, thief, Division of Range Research, and R. S. CAMPBELL, 

 Associate Forest Ecologist, Southwestern Forest and Range Experiment 

 Station 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Western forest ranges 1537 



The unreserved public domain 1538 



State forest ranges 1538 



Private forest ranges 1538 



Existing Federal reservations 1539 



Southern forest ranges 1539 



Farm woodlands 1540 



Research 1540 



The " Forest Ranges" section of this report points out that 334 

 million acres, or 54 percent, of the forest land in the United States is 

 used for grazing domestic livestock, and presents the problems 

 involved in coordinating the use of forage with conservation and use 

 of other forest resources. The need for management that will 

 assure sustained yield of forest ranges is shown by the poor condition 

 of much of the forest-range area of the West, the extreme and con- 

 tinuing deterioration of forage and watershed-protective values on 

 most public-domain forest lands and on a considerable part of the 

 private forest lands in the West that are grazed, the damage to timber 

 production in the South resulting from uncontrolled burning of 

 forest lands in an effort to improve range conditions, and the deteriora- 

 tion of some farm woodlands as a result of heavy browsing of tree 

 sprouts. The management of these lands should be such as to 

 perpetuate their range and other values, to afford sustained use of the 

 forage by livestock, and to effect the economic and social benefits that 

 would result from stabilizing the use of the lands. Sustained yield 

 management of forest ranges involves: (1) Correlation of the use of 

 the lands by domestic livestock with the conservation and use of 

 other resources such as watershed protection, timber, recreation, and 

 wild life; (2) reservation, consolidation, and administration of 

 public lands now inadequately managed; (3) public acquisition for 

 administration of certain areas at present in private ownership; 

 and (4) research to develop principles of management. 



The forest range management program deals with three distinct 

 situations, those of the western forest ranges, the southern forest 

 ranges, and the farm woodlands. 



WESTERN FOREST RANGES 



Public interests are vitally affected by the management of forest 

 ranges in the West. The present productivity of the herbaceous and 

 shrubby vegetation, falling far short of the potential productivity 

 on many areas, does not furnish as satisfactory livestock production 

 as possible, and thus limits the prosperity of the livestock industry 



1537 



