PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGIONAL FOREST PROGRAM 



Introduction 



In response to the request of the Pacific Northwest 

 Regional Planning Commission, its forest conmiittee ' 

 has prepared this forest program for the region. In 

 order that the program might be made as sound, fair, 

 and well-balanced as practicable before final recom- 

 mendation to the Commission, the committee, after a 

 series of meetings and much work on its own part, 

 sought the advice and constructive criticism (a) of many 

 well-informed persons of all points of view directly and 

 indirectlj' interested in the problems involved, and (6) 

 of the principal interested public and private organiza- 

 tions. 



Tliis statement is not a full, detailed discussion of the 

 facts of and the remedies for the forest situation of the 

 region; on the contrary it is intended to outline, as 

 briefly as practicable, the more important facts drawn 

 from the immense mass of material available. This 

 statement is supplemented with a much more complete 

 statement of the basic facts of the situation. The pro- 

 gram of action recommended is carefully coordinated 

 with thought developed in the region and with the pro- 

 gram reconuneuded by the National Forestry Confer- 

 ence of 1934. At that time, a large group of competent 

 men, representing all angles of public and industry point 

 of view, developed, after months of study, a well-bal- 

 anced national program. 



It is emphasized that this regional program is not an 

 efi'ort to impose a plan upon the several States of the 

 region. Rather it is the result of united study by men 

 from each of the States, giving due consideration to 

 national, regional. State, industry, antl other relation- 

 ships and suggesting to the Nation, to the several 

 States of the region, to industry and to other groups 

 for careful study and suitable action the more important 

 things wliich require attention. Joint effort by the 

 people and States of the region will aid powerfully in 

 securing needed federal action. Mutual regional study 

 is an important aid in concentrating attention and action 

 within each of the States upon matters of really prime 

 importance. The regional program merely suggests; it 

 is hoped that Nation, States, timber-land owners, and 

 others will study and act appropriately. 



■ The forest committee consists ot David T. Mason, Portland, Greg., chairman; and 

 of C. J. Buck, Forest Service, Portland, Greg.; Dean D. S. Jellers, University of 

 Idaho, Moscow, Idaho; Dean T. C Spaulding, University of Montana, Missoula, 

 Mont.; and Dean Hugo Winkenwerder, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. 

 The four last named are the chairmen of the forest advisory committees of the State 

 Planning Boards of the respective States of the region. Mr. Buck was repre- 

 sented in part by F. Brundage, and Dean Winkenwerder by J. B. Woods, in this 

 work. 



8 



Services Rendered by Forests 



Regional forest resources perform certaui services, 

 some essential, others extremely important to the eco- 

 nomic and social welfare of the people of the region, and 

 in less degree to the people of the whole United States. 

 These services woidd be most perfectly performed if the 

 forest resources were under "sustained-3neld forest man- 

 agement." The following statement incUcates the 

 natiu-e of such management as well as the nature of the 

 services which forests can render continuously if prop- 

 erly managed. 



The most important service is the stabilization of 

 communities dependent upon the forests. Such com- 

 munities can be maintained only through sustained- 

 yield forest management. A local community, con- 

 sisting of many economic elements, such as labor, 

 farms, stores, garages, banks, railroads, etc., is often 

 completely or mainly dependent for its existence upon 

 the economic activity coimected with the harvesting, 

 manufacture, and transportation of forest products. 

 Such a community can have stable life only if the forest 

 land upon which it depends is so managed that the 

 forest is protected, reproduced, and harvested at a 

 sufficiently moderate annual rate to permit new growth 

 to replace what is cut, thus gi^^Ilg a continuous, perma- 

 nent output of forest products. This is sustained-yield 

 forest management, which has as a major purpose 

 community maintenance through timber cutting ad- 

 justed to forest resources and growth capacity. No 

 other kind of forest management provides for com- 

 munity and forest industries' stability. 



The regional and national forest products supply 

 can be pro^•ided for consumption most efficiently 

 through sustained-yield management, since such man- 

 agement avoids many forms of waste and extra 

 expense involved in the migratory forest industry and 

 which are inevitable without such management. 



In this region, the water resources are among the 

 most important ; the beneficent influence of forest cover 

 in regulating and conserving stream flow and water 

 supply is generally recognized. Forests are effective in 

 conserving soil, preventing its erosion and consecjuent 

 silting of reservoirs and stream channels. Forests 

 ameliorate chmate. Forests afford protection and siut- 

 able habitat for many game animals and for other wild 

 life. Forests are among the most important places of 

 recreation. Much of the forest land, east of the Cas- 

 cades, furnishes forage for domestic livestock without 

 damage to the forest. 



