as a reserve for the general market. It is obvious that even with a greatly 

 extended program of acqui>Hon of public forests we must still look to 

 private forests, exactly as ucner countries do, for a part of our future 

 forest supplies. 



The problem of forestry requires action both by the public and by 

 private owners. I would emphasize especially the production of old 

 growth lumber of special quality. The public should assume a much larger 

 share of the burden of forestry than it does today, both in acquiring 

 and managing larger areas of publicly owned forests and in aiding private 

 owners to protect their lands and to secure forest replacement. 



Responsibility of Private Owners. The entire burden of forestry should 

 not, however, be assumed by the public. Private proprietorship of land 

 carries with it certain definite responsibilities that owners can not escape. 

 They have the duty of handling their lands in such a way as not to injure 

 others or the general public. The turning of forest lands into a waste as 

 is now being done on a very extensive scale is a very great injury to the 

 public. These destructive practices can be condoned only on the ground 

 that the public has complacently permitted them and has not furnished 

 the aid and direction that are needed in getting constructive measures 

 of a practical character into actual practice. 



The character of the problem of forestry is such that the private 

 owner unaided has great difficulty even in securing adequate protection, 

 let alone the renewal after cutting. The public must, therefore, share the 

 responsibility for the present situation that has resulted from destructive 

 methods. If, however, the public does its part, it may require owners to 

 handle their lands in such a way that an unproductive waste will not 

 follow in the wake of their operations. 



Need of a National Policy. The situation clearly calls for the adoption 

 of a broad and far-reaching policy for the nation; a policy in which 

 objectives are clearly defined, the responsibilities of the public and of 

 private land owners are recognized, the activities of both the public and 

 private owners brought into correlation, and a practical legislative and 

 administrative program outlined. 



On various occasions during the last eight months I have set forth 

 what I believe to be the principles that should underlie- such a policy. 

 Time does not permit on this occasion a discussion of all its details, but 

 a brief outline will indicate its chief features. 



A National Policy Outlined. (1) Public Forests. A national policy 

 of forestry should provide first of all for an extensive program of publicity 

 owned forests, owned in part by the federal government, in part by 

 the states, and in part by municipalities, and by quasi-public institutions 

 and organizations. At the present time the public owns about twenty-five 

 per cent of the country's forests. This should be extended to fully forty 

 or fifty per cent. 



The federal holdings should be extended by purchase, by exchange of 

 stumpage for cut-over lands, by additions to the National Forests of land 

 now in the unreserved public domain. It should be the aim to include 

 areas needed for the protection of watersheds, for the prevention of 

 erosion for recreation and other general public purposes. Cut-over 



