Forest Resources oj the Pacific Northwest 



13 



dealt with uniformly throughout the Region because 

 of difl'erences in State constitutions, m State tax sys- 

 tems and machinery, and in State forest and other 

 conditions. 



Forest protection should be greatly improved so as 

 to reduce losses and fears of losses. Because the public 

 is responsible for the starting of many fires, and because 

 the public derives from forests many benefits which do 

 not accrue to the private owner, the public, both 

 Federal and State, in order to do its fair share, should 

 pay a much larger portion of the cost of forest pro- 

 tection than at present. Federal forest lands are ad- 

 ministered by many bureaus mcluding the Forest 

 Service, Indian Service, Resettlement Administration, 

 Park Service, Land Office, and others. Funds have 

 not always been provided for forest fire protection of 

 some of these Federal lands. Consecpiently, other 

 fire protection agencies have been forced to pay for 

 protection of these unprotected Federal lands in 

 order that their own adjacent forest land be protected. 

 The forested land in the unreserved public domain is 

 an outstanding example. Recent acquisitions of forest 

 lands and proposed acquisitions by the Farm Seciuity 

 Administration (Resettlement Administration) further 

 emphasize the necessity for adequate protection of all 

 federally owned forest land. Similarly, all State, county, 

 and municipal forest lands should be adequately pro- 

 tected. 



It is generally considered impracticable by most of 

 the industry under present conditions to own more than 

 20 years' supply of timber; most of them own much 

 less. But sustained-yield management requires a tim- 

 ber supplj' wliicli will last long enough to permit new 

 growth to replace what is cut, and, according to local 

 conditions, this mav require from 40 to 80 years' supply 

 of ol<l-growth timber, or far more than many operators 

 now feel can be successfully carried by them. It is 

 desirable, insofar as possible, to bring about conditions 

 which will make it practical and economical for more 

 of the industry and nonoperator owners to continue to 

 own tiniberland and manage it on a sustained-yield 

 basis. Nevertheless, there will be many instances 

 where private owner-operators will not be able to carrj- 

 sufficient land for this purpose. This condition, and 

 the large amount of i)ublicly owned forest land in nuiny 

 of the prospective sustained-yield units, points to the 

 desirability of coopci-ation between private and public 

 owners in setting up and managing such units. Such 

 cooperation will require careful planning and long-term 

 contracts between the several parties to secure the 

 necessary continuity of policy. The managers of public 

 forest lands, such as the national forest lands, the re- 

 vested grant lands. State forest lands, etc., should l)c 

 autiiorized by law to enter into such contracts, which, 



of course, should provide ample safeguards for protec- 

 tion of the public interest. 



A large program of public forest acquisition should 

 be untlertaken in order to make such cooperative sus- 

 tained-yield units more widely practicable through 

 establishment of a reasonable balance between public 

 and private forest ownership within each unit. This 

 program should have as its main purpose the acquisi- 

 tion of forest land of such amount, character, and loca- 

 tion as will efi'ectively contribute to the development 

 of such cooperative units. In appljang this policy, 

 emphasis should be placed upon the acquisition of well- 

 developed but mimature second-growth timber. This 

 timber will be sorely needed to support industry in 

 future years, and its present cutting brings into market 

 an undesirable low grade of material, and thereby pre- 

 vents the marketing of an equal quantity of over- 

 mature, deteriorating timber greatly in need of cutting. 

 (At present in western Oregon and western Washington, 

 there is being cut about one-half billion feet ainiually 

 of such innnature, rapidly growing Douglas fir.) 



In addition, the pubhc acquisition program should 

 take over forest land unsuited to private management. 

 This would include substantial areas so seriously de- 

 nuded of forest growth by fire or cutting that expensive 

 restoration work is rec[uired if they are again to become 

 productive forest lands. 



The purposes here indicated may be aided by a wide 

 application and more liberal use of the authority which 

 the Forest Service now has to make exchanges. The 

 large public acquisitions here contemplated raise addi- 

 tional tax problems; but wise forest land use in the 

 public interest should be the major objective, together 

 with such equitable redistribution of the tax burden as 

 may be necessary. 



One means of encouraging long-time private forest 

 management would be thi'ough action by the Federal 

 Government to organize "forest credits" in about the 

 same way farm credits are organized, thus making 

 capital available at the minimum practicable interest 

 rates. It is highly desirable, also, that the public en- 

 courage systems of insuring forest growth against loss 

 from fire, at rates which may be attractive to private 

 operators aiul owners. The Federal forest credits pro- 

 j)osal includes provision for insui'ance, aiijilicable to 

 forests contained witliin sustained-yield units. Inas- 

 much as protection organizations function over large 

 areas and represent cooperative arrangenu'nts a]i])]ying 

 to mixed ownerships, and inasmuch as broader coverage 

 may well cheapen the rates and increase the security, 

 it appears desirable tiiat insurance be extended to other 

 forest areas, properly protected. 



Action along these several lines would greatly facili- 

 tate the a|)pii(atioii of sustaiiu>d-yicld management to 



