A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1593 



In the management and protection of forests and forest lands, 

 changing conditions have brought new responsibilities. Economic 

 changes involve shifts in responsibility. Growing realization of con- 

 ditions not formerly recognized in their true significance necessitates 

 entirely new emphasis on responsibilities hitherto unassumed. For 

 many of the recommendations made in this report legal authority 

 definitely fixing responsibility already exists; in other instances we 

 must depend upon the moral force of awakened public opinion in 

 lieu of legislation, or until legislation is enacted. 



THE DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITY 



THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 



The responsibility of the private citizen in regard to forestry is in 

 part included in those more or less intangible obligations inherent in 

 good citizenship. A good citizen is one who concerns himself with 

 the affairs of his community, his State, and his Nation, and who works 

 in the interest of their permanent stability and well-being. With the 

 complications of modern civilization he cannot give personal atten- 

 tion to all these affairs, so he joins with his fellow citizens in electing 

 competent men to represent him in government. What he and his 

 neighbors think about various matters constitutes public opinion, 

 which dictates the policies of government. In the last analysis, the 

 private citizen is responsible for the control of the country, and the 

 manner in which its resources are managed. If he neglects to take 

 an intelligent personal interest in affairs of outstanding importance, 

 or if he fails to choose able representatives, he cannot expect good 

 government. The extent to which conservation policies are followed 

 in the management of the Nation's forest resources depends directly 

 upon public opinion. 



THE PRIVATE LANDOWNER 



The forest owner has the responsibility of good citizenship as well 

 as the obligations which accompany ownership. The owner is actually 

 a custodian of the land; to him his ownership may seem permanent, 

 but after all it lasts only for a very brief period of time as reckoned 

 in the life of the Nation. During his custodianship he has no moral 

 right to destroy the land's permanent productivity; future genera- 

 tions must depend upon it for a livelihood, and the prosperity of the 

 Nation is based upon the perpetuation of its resources. 



Ownership is an important factor in the determination of responsi- 

 bility for forestry, because ownership carries with it certain definite 

 obligations, usually involves at least partial acceptance of responsi- 

 bility through self-interest, and provides some degree of authority 

 for control. Responsibility for forestry measures by no means rests 

 upon ownership alone, however, especially under the present condi- 

 tions of maladjustment due to past land policies. In many instances 

 the owner lacks the authority to perform certain acts necessary to 

 safeguard and develop his property. He may lack any incentive to 

 do so, and there may exist neither legislative authority compelling 

 him to accept legal responsibility, nor public opinion compelling him 

 to accept moral responsibility. Or, if he has the incentive, he may 

 lack the financial means to assume obligations with any ^ expectancy 

 of accomplishment. Furthermore, the owner may be entirely unable 

 to benefit from certain values that his property holds for others, or 



