A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1603 



sional forestry training, while others lack sufficient personnel and 

 facilities to do this. The general need is for better rather than more 

 professional forest schools. All institutions of agricultural education 

 should provide at least general and elementary courses in forestry, 

 especially for students training to become teachers or extension leaders 

 in agriculture. 



The recent forestry education inquiry conducted under the auspices 

 of the Society of American Foresters led to the conclusion that the 

 minimum annual budget of a satisfactory forest school is between 

 $35,000 and $45,000. It is estimated, therefore, that an annual ex- 

 penditure of at least $1,200,000 by State educational institutions will 

 be needed to bring about the increased and improved forestry 

 instruction here proposed. 



FOREST RESEARCH 



The greatly enlarged program of direct State forest-land manage- 

 ment and administration and of State aid to private forest-land 

 owners which this report recommends calls for a very great expansion 

 of State forest research. This expansion should be effected in the 

 immediate future. 



The field of State research in forestry includes local problems of 

 forest establishment, regeneration, protection, management, and 

 utilization, and also some of the more fundamental problems affecting 

 forest-land resources. Studies may be conducted independently or 

 in cooperation with Federal agencies. There is special need for State 

 research to obtain more accurate information concerning forest re- 

 sources and forest-land use, and for State studies of forest taxation. 



At the present time the States are not conducting forest research on 

 a scale at all comparable with that of the Federal Government; in 

 1932, State agencies expended altogether approximately $429,000 for 

 research in forestry and related activities. This includes the expen- 

 ditures of the State forestry departments, the State forest schools and 

 agricultural experiment stations, and local public agencies. Within 

 the next 10 years the funds provided for forest research by these 

 agencies should be increased to at least $2,500,000 a year. 



PROGRAM FOR STATE OWNED FORESTS 

 PRESENT AREA AND ADMINISTRATION 



Some 16 million acres of forest lands are owned or being acquired by 

 State and local government at the present time (1932). This area 

 includes 405 State forest units under administration in 30 States, with 

 a total area of 4,395,549 acres, and 2,231,636 acres in the process of 

 acquisition as State forests. It includes 2,682,509 acres of State parks 

 composing 323 units in 28 States, nearly 1,000,000 acres of county 

 and municipal forests, and approximately 6,000,000 acres of State- 

 owned forest lands not under administration. In addition, tax- 

 reverting forest lands for which State or local governments have not 

 yet recognized responsibility are estimated to total from 20 million to 

 30 million acres in three important forest regions alone. Obviously, 

 one of the first requirements of State forestry is to place these public 

 forest lands under permanent management. 



