1610 A NATIONAL PLAN FOB AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Criteria which have been used in this report to mark the need for a 

 Federal program of action far greater than previously envisaged, 

 include the following: 



1. The serious depletion of usable supplies of timber, and the 

 inadequacy of growing stock needed eventually to balance consump- 

 tive needs. 



2. The widespread deterioration of watersheds through misuse of 

 the forest cover. 



3. The failure to maintain and develop essential recreational and 

 wild-life values of forest lands. 



4. The widespread breakdown of private ownership of forest land, 

 and the threat of an accelerating rate of abandonment. 



5. The rapid increase in the area of abandoned agricultural land, 

 which, if used productively, must now be put back to the original 

 forested condition. 



6. The ineffectiveness of public aid alone to make private forestry 

 feasible, or in many cases, even to keep forest lands in private owner- 

 ship. 



7. The financial inability of most of the States and local units of 

 government to take over the forest management job where private 

 ownership has failed. 



8. The apparent barriers of tradition and failure to appreciate 

 public forest-land values, which to some degree hold back effective 

 private forestry even where genuine financial opportunity and ability 

 exist. 



The Federal Government has two primary methods through which 

 it can participate in the national forestry enterprise. The first 

 method is one of systematic aid and encouragement to the States and 

 private owners. A primary purpose of such aid in every form is to 

 make it possible for others to own and manage forest lands, and 

 thereby make it unnecessary for the Federal Government to do so. 

 The established forms of Federal aid and assistance, of which this 

 report recommends the continuation and expansion, include: 



1. Direct grants of money, as for fire, insect and disease control, 

 extension, and planting stock. 



2. Returns of money to the local government, on account of Federal 

 land ownership, such as the 25 percent of national-forest receipts. 



3. Expenditure on account of land ownership for such projects as 

 forest highways, which are integral parts of local road systems, and 

 would otherwise be constructed by local government. 



4. Carrying on of research programs, the results of which are avail- 

 able to all. 



5. Management of Federal lands without cost to local governments, 

 as the national forests and parks. 



The second method of participating in the national forestry enter- 

 prise is by direct Federal management of Federally owned or controlled 

 forest lands, when this proves necessary to care for the values at 

 stake. This report recommends national expansion in this direction, 

 leaving to private ownership the forest lands on which there is a real 

 chance for profitable business enterprise, and to the States the amount 

 that their financial ability will enable them to own and manage. 



Many Federal agencies have a part in carrying out the forestry 

 program of the Federal Government. The following proposed pro- 

 gram covers specifically the work of each of these agencies which to- 



