758 



Yearbook of Agriculture 1949 



values in the forests; develop oppor- 

 tunities and facilities for recreation. 



To attain those objectives, a broad 

 program of action is needed both on 

 public and private forest lands. We 

 believe 10 elements are essential in 

 such a program. 



Extend and improve protection 

 against fire. 



Millions of acres of forest land in 

 the United States still lack any form 

 of systematic fire protection. Fire-con- 

 trol forces and facilities on many other 

 areas are still far from being adequate. 

 Organized protection should be ex- 

 tended as rapidly as possible to all areas 

 needing it, and strengthened wherever 

 it is now inadequate. 



Provide more adequate protection 

 against destructive insects and diseases. 



An effective attack on the insect and 

 disease problem will require a detec- 

 tion system, with surveys and observa- 

 tions by competent technicians, for 

 prompt location of potential danger 

 centers and incipient outbreaks ; a con- 

 trol organization equipped and ready 

 for immediate action; and intensified 

 studies to discover and develop the 

 best methods of control. 



Eliminate overgrazing and other 

 abuses of forest range lands. 



Many ranges, both public and pri- 

 vate, have been heavily overstocked. 

 On national forest ranges, we have 

 attempted to bring grazing into bal- 

 ance with forage growth, with as lit- 

 tle hardship as possible to holders of 

 grazing permits who are dependent on 

 these ranges. At least half of the na- 

 tional forest ranges are now in good 

 condition. On some areas, however, 

 further action is necessary to prevent 

 progressive range deterioration. Sim- 

 ilar problems exist on many other 

 public and private ranges, and encour- 

 agement should be given to sound 

 management of all range lands. 



Reduce forest waste. 



Of all the wood cut or destroyed in 

 logging in the United States, it is esti- 

 mated that only 43 percent winds up 

 in useful products other than fuel. 

 Twenty-two percent is used as fuel, 



much of it inefficiently; 35 percent is 

 not used at all. More research is needed 

 to develop new techniques for harvest- 

 ing wood and making products with 

 less waste, and new ways of utilizing 

 what is now unused. We need also to 

 get such improved methods into use, 

 through increased technical assistance 

 to woodland owners and wood proces- 

 sors and through encouragement of 

 greater integration of timber-products 

 industries. Reduction of waste can 

 give us more wood products without 

 increasing the drain on our forests. Of 

 equal or even greater importance, it 

 produces more employment and more 

 wealth for each thousand board feet 

 cut from the forest. 



Regulate timber cutting and related 

 forest practices. 



An urgent need is to stop destructive 

 cutting. The Department has recom- 

 mended a Federal-State control plan, 

 which includes: Prohibiting the strip- 

 ping of every tree from the land, except 

 under special circumstances; prohibit- 

 ing the premature or wasteful cutting 

 in young stands; providing for certain 

 safeguards against fire, insects, and dis- 

 eases ; and providing for the reservation 

 of sufficient growing stock of desirable 

 trees to keep the lands reasonably pro- 

 ductive. 



Those five standards are aimed at 

 protection and wise use of the forest 

 values we still have. They would check 

 further destructive exploitation and 

 deterioration, and in some degree start 

 our forest resources toward recovery. 



But we need more than this. We 

 need positive action to restore and 

 build up the forests for full production 

 and service. 



Public aids to private forest-land 

 owners, especially the small owners. 



Commercial forest land in private 

 ownership is divided among more than 

 4 million owners. Among the various 

 classifications of private ownership, the 

 highest percentage of good forest- 

 management practice is found on lands 

 in large industrial ownerships. Many 

 industrial forest-land owners employ 

 their own technical foresters or engage 



