1576 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the authorization of the Clarke-McNary law, are used in the employ- 

 ment of State extension foresters who are the specialists and leaders 

 in the forest-extension activity in each of the States. There is 

 usually only one extension forester to each State. 



The ^ forestry-extension activity of the Federal and State govern- 

 ments in partnership costs annually a total of approximately $160,000, 

 the Federal Government bearing about $70,000 of the total and the 

 States furnishing $90,000. 



While there is some direct contact with farmers in meetings and to 

 a lesser extent by individual assistance, the extension foresters of the 

 various States reach the farm owner mainly through the county agri- 

 cultural agents, of whom about 1,000 in 46 States participated in 1931. 

 The field of activity of the county agents is limited to farmers and 

 farm owners, and the usual methods of agricultural extension work 

 are employed in forestry extension. The results obtained more than 

 justify the amount of money expended, but the field as a whole is only 

 partly exploited, and there remain great possibilities in public good 

 to be achieved from an expansion and development of the work. 



FORESTRY EXTENSION BY FEDERAL AND STATE 

 FOREST SERVICES 



The private owner of timberland who is not also a farmer receives 

 few, if any, of the benefits of the organized forestry extension effort; 

 in fact, in many large and important regions, he gets very little direct 

 attention from any source. Bulletins, both State and Federal, and 

 occasional but rare opportunities for personal contact with some 

 Federal or State forester are, as a general rule, as much as he can 

 expect to get in aid or advice from public agencies. 



The Forest Service publishes bulletins, circulars, and newspaper 

 and magazine articles on forestry, and most of the State forest 

 services have similar facilities; but neither in the Forest Service nor 

 in the State services is there any adequate effort to give to the non- 

 farmer timberland owner service or assistance comparable to that 

 made available to farm woodland owners. While many of the States 

 manage to maintain some form of forest extension and charge 

 considerable sums of their available appropriations to extension 

 activities, the exigencies of fire protection, the first step in forestry, 

 demand the larger part of their efforts and expenditures. As a con- 

 sequence, only a few State forest services can truly be said to be meet- 

 ing their responsibilities in reaching the private owner of the nonf armer 

 class with aid and advice as to handling his holdings along the con- 

 structive lines of forest management, utilization, planting and 

 marketing. 



The user of forest products receives more attention from the 

 Federal Forest Service than does the timber owner. At the Forest 

 Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis., the Forest Service maintains 

 a small extension organization designed to carry into practice the 

 knowledge and processes discovered through the research activities 

 of the institution. Courses of training and instruction in lumber-kiln 

 practice, boxing and crating, gluing of wood, and wood properties 

 and uses are conducted on a cost basis for manufacturers, trade 

 specialists, and salesmen. In addition, information is made available 

 to the public through bulletins, periodical notes, and trade journals, 

 as well as by correspondence and contact with associations. 



