674 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



agement and protection, our forest 

 lands could be made to produce abun- 

 dantly forever, and that, moreover, the 

 raw materials harvested from forests 

 were essential to national welfare. 

 Conservation, in the minds of many, 

 excluded utilization. 



To help counter such impressions, 

 the program started with these objec- 

 tives : 



"To make the American people 

 aware of the fact that timber is a 

 crop which forest-products industries 

 are endeavoring to grow and protect 

 continuously, to keep the people accu- 

 rately informed about the constructive 

 contributions which these industries 

 are making by creating forest products 

 through private enterprise, products 

 which promote the economic, social, 

 and defense progress of the Nation. 



"To stimulate, throughout the for- 

 est-products industries themselves, 

 further and continuing improvement 

 in forest practices which are worthy 

 of public approval." 



By general educational methods, 

 consisting of publicity, booklets, and 

 motion pictures, the program sought 

 to impress the public with certain 

 characteristics of the forest resource, 

 with the importance of wood as an 

 industrial raw material, and with the 

 steps being taken to use and to con- 

 serve the forest resource. 



Educational materials were fur- 

 nished to schools and other interested 

 groups throughout the country. It was 

 not long, however, before those essen- 

 tially public relations activities broad- 

 ened. By 1948, in addition to its 

 general educational program, AFPI 

 was undertaking these projects in the 

 field of forestry : 



1 . The extension of the Keep Amer- 

 ica Green movement, for popular edu- 

 cation in forest-fire prevention on a 

 local basis. 



2. The extension of the Tree Farm 

 program, in areas where the project 

 was not already organized or spon- 

 sored. 



3. The initiation of local More 

 Trees projects, designed. to arouse the 



interest of woodland owners in better 

 forest practices and to provide means 

 for informing them. 



The fact that Keep Green programs, 

 organized in only 3 States in 1943, had 

 expanded to 24 States in 1948 (with 

 more being organized) is evidence of 

 the effectiveness of this phase of 

 AFPI's work during the intervening 

 years. Similarly, from 1946 to 1948, 

 AFPI helped to organize Tree Farm 

 programs in 7 other States. 



In both activities, assistance is given 

 existing programs by supplies of ma- 

 terials and by counsel. In many 

 instances, this has resulted in the for- 

 mation of groups of interested citizens, 

 localized even to communities within 

 counties. Although such groups, which 

 include Keep Green committees, are 

 not industrial as such, they are largely 

 the result of industry-sponsored pro- 

 grams for forest betterment. 



A third AFPI forest program is the 

 More Trees project. This most recent 

 activity began in Alabama in 1948. Ad- 

 dressed primarily to dwners of small 

 woodlands, it both sells the idea of for- 

 est management for profit and seeks 

 to bring practical fundamentals in 

 farm forestry to woods owners. 



Through an informal partnership 

 between the American Forest Products 

 Industries and the Alabama Forestry 

 Council, representing public and pri- 

 vate interests within the State, nearly 

 every woodland owner was reached 

 through advertising, publicity, book- 

 lets, motion pictures, and film strips. 

 One idea is stressed : Good forest man- 

 agement pays. Field demonstrations 

 and short courses in forestry are given. 

 By the end of 1948 similar projects 

 were operating in Virginia and New 

 Hampshire, with others being planned. 



All three projects Keep Green, 

 Tree Farms, More Trees are collec- 

 tively described as the Trees for Amer- 

 ica program. All three have one thing 

 in common : They work for increased 

 forest production on a strictly local 

 basis. In no case does the American 

 Forest Products Industries direct or 

 manage them. It helps organize and 



