760 



Yearboo^ of Agriculture 1949 



driveways, can contribute to building 

 up deteriorated range by making possi- 

 ble better control and distribution of 

 livestock grazing. 



Extension and development of pub- 

 lic forests. 



Within the boundaries of existing 

 national forests are about 35 million 

 out of some 49 million acres of inter- 

 mingled private land, that are suitable 

 for forestry purposes and that should 

 be purchased and included in the na- 

 tional forests to facilitate their full 

 development. There are other lands 

 for which public ownership Federal, 

 State, or community would be the 

 best guaranty that the lands would be 

 developed and managed in the Na- 

 tion's best interest. These include forest 

 lands where the productivity is too low 

 for private owners to be expected to 

 hold them for timber growing; lands 

 which lie in such rough or inaccessible 

 country that they have little attraction 

 for private enterprise; and lands so 

 denuded as to offer no prospect of 

 income for many decades. Also for cer- 

 tain areas where acute problems of 

 watershed protection or development 

 of scenic or recreational values or other 

 public interests are paramount, public 

 acquisition is indicated. 



There should, of course, be adequate 

 provision for the protection, effective 

 administration, and full development 

 of the public forests now existing or 

 yet to be established. There is need 

 for more intensive management on 

 many of the national forests and other 

 public timberlands and ranges; for 

 tighter protection against fire ; for more 

 tree planting, range reseeding, and 

 upstream engineering work; for de- 

 velopment of recreation facilities and 

 improvement of wildlife habitat. Pres- 

 ent forces and facilities on the 

 public forests are spread thinly over a 

 large area. The public forests should 

 be developed and managed for maxi- 

 mum production and service. 



More research. 



Fundamental to all action programs 

 for the restoration and development 

 of the forest and wild-land resources 



is sound, scientific knowledge. Re- 

 search and experience already have 

 produced a great deal of knowledge 

 and ability in forestry enough to 

 provide a sound basis for an effective 

 forest conservation and development 

 program. But there are many problems 

 in forest management, range manage- 

 ment, and watershed management yet 

 unsolved. There are great possibilities 

 for improvements in wood utilization, 

 development of new forest products, 

 and reduction of waste. An enlarged 

 and intensified program of research 

 should increase our basic knowledge 

 of forest and wild-land resources, and 

 find new and better ways of doing 

 things at less cost. 



Deterioration of forest resources in 

 the United States already has gone so 

 far that we face a period of timber 

 shortage before timber growth can be 

 built up to the point of sustained 

 abundance. We are already experi- 

 encing shortage in many kinds of for- 

 est products. The longer action to build 

 up the timber resource is delayed, the 

 longer and more acute the period of 

 short supply will be. 



The need for forest rehabilitation 

 and improved forest management is 

 not confined to the United States 

 alone. It is world-wide. The Food and 

 Agriculture Organization of the United 

 Nations has reported: "In the face of 

 . . . rapidly multiplying uses for 

 wood which create ever-mounting 

 wood needs, the world is confronted by 

 the inescapable fact that the forests 

 sole source of wood are steadily 

 diminishing." 



We have the forest land in the 

 United States to meet our own require- 

 ments for timber eventually and to help 

 supply other less fortunate countries. 

 With intelligent, courageous, positive 

 action, we can achieve permanent tim- 

 ber abundance. We can make trees and 

 forests serve human welfare forever. 



LYLE F. WATTS is the Chief of the 

 Forest Service, the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, which he en- 

 tered as a forest assistant in 1913. 



