A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1651 



$5 per acre for planting and seeding. By means of such a program 

 reenforced by the work of the insular Division of Forestry, the con- 

 tinued cooperation of private owners, and the power of example, the 

 island of Puerto Rico, instead of producing, as at present, only one 

 fourth the amount of wood sufficient for her needs, should within 50 

 years be producing the wood needed for the industrial uses of a greatly 

 increased population and should in addition number among her most 

 valuable exports a considerable volume of rich cabinet woods, such 

 as mahogany, tabonuco, ausubo, and cedro. 



Under a cooperative agreement between the United States Forest 

 Service and the Insular Department of Agriculture and Labor, of 

 which the Division of Forestry is a unit, the Federal forest officer in 

 charge of the Luquillo National Forest is also employed as Chief of 

 the Puerto Rico Forest Service; thus complete cooperation in the 

 forestry work is secured by the Federal and insular governments, and 

 duplication of effort is avoided. This arrangement has worked well 

 and should be continued. The public lands in charge of this officer at 

 present consist of about 14,000 acres in the Luquillo National Forest 

 and about 40,000 acres of insular forests, widely scattered in six 

 forest districts, each under a guard or inspector. The service includes 

 also the work of the three forest nurseries, the distribution of seedlings, 

 and aid and advice in planting and forest cultural work. The present 

 annual forestry budget amounts to about $32,000, of which the cost 

 to the Federal Government for the administration of the Luquillo 

 National Forest is slightly more than $2,000. The rest of the work 

 is charged against insular funds. The ultimate annual cost of admin- 

 istering publicly owned land, if the acquisition and planting programs 

 previously mentioned are consummated, should be in the neighbor- 

 hood of 15 cents per acre, or about $10,000 for the Federal Govern- 

 ment and $20,000 for the insular government. 



There is urgent need for the establishment in Puerto Rico of the 

 tropical forest experiment station already authorized by the Mc- 

 Sweeney-McNary Act. Growth and management of Puerto Rican 

 tree species, native and introduced, present practically a virgin field of 

 investigation. The multiplicity of species, their complex habits and 

 characteristics, the variable climatic factors, and the prevailing lack 

 of basic knowledge concerning them offer many practical but unusu- 

 ally difficult problems. Until the basic knowledge required can be 

 made available through the facilities of a well organized forest experi- 

 ment station, progress in forestry, both public and private, will be 

 slow. Furthermore, such a station will be of value not only to Puerto 

 Rico; its influence should be felt in forestry matters throughout the 

 West Indies and in tropical America. 



