Forest Resources oj the Pacific Northwest 



The watershed, soil protective, and scenic vahies of 

 tliis tiinhor may be very great, but much of its ])resc.nt 

 inchistriiil vahie is questionable on account of relative 

 quahty and inaccessibility. Supporting an uncomfort- 

 able conclusion of relative insecurity is the fact that not 

 even all publicly owned timber is yet being handled on a 

 sustained-yield basis. 



Although onty 33 percent of the forest land and 43 

 percent of the timber of the Region are privately owned, 

 it is clear that the initial stages of the battle for sus- 

 tained timber management will be won or lost on what 

 are now privatelj^ owned lands. The privately owned 

 land includes the major portion of commercially ac- 

 cessible timber, the best timber-growing sties, and 

 therefore, the land which, under sustained-j'ield man- 

 agement, can in the long run best compete with timber- 

 growing sections of the world. 



Bearing in mind the strategic importance of tlie 

 I)rivately owned forests, there may be found in them a 

 number of conditions inimical to the attainment of sus- 

 tained yield. The widest divergence from sustained- 

 yield method exists in this ownership bracket. In the 

 first place, there are lacks of long-time planning and of 

 continuit}^ of management policy. Contributing to 

 lack of adequate plans and policies are fear of the future 

 in connection with the long period of j^ears required to 

 grow forest crops, the fact that pride of ownership in 

 well-managed forest land is not yet widely awakened, 

 and the fact that the responsibilities of private owners 

 to use their properties for the greatest good in the long 

 run are not clearly established in the scheme of forest 

 operations. Generally, the industry is not set up, nor 

 are its ownerships blocked up, for permanent or long- 

 term operation. Much of the private investment and 

 financing is based upon quick lifjuidation of capital. 

 This basis is accepted by ta.x-levying agencies \-.hose 

 I)olicies add still further to the pressure for rapiil 

 depletion. There is an absolute need of legal and 

 economic measures to encoiu'age the development 

 of the more desirable private ownershi]i policies and 

 l)ractices. 



The pressure for liquidation results in overproduction, 

 cut-throat competition, practices of haste and waste 

 which may not be desired by the oi)ei'ator, but which 

 seem to be forced on him b,y economic conditions. 

 Moreover, from the standpoint of eventual remedy, 

 there is inadequate protection — with hundreds of 

 thousands of acres of future potential timber crops being 

 destroyed by fire and disease in the average year. 



The public, nationally and locidly, has a tremendous 

 stake in the forest resource. Tiicrefore the public must 

 expect to take the lead m this vital program for estab- 

 lishment of sustained-yield [xilicics and the energy with 

 which it pursues its task will deternuiu' the future of 

 Northwest forests. The better stabilization of forests, 



forest industries and communities directly dejjendent 

 upon forests will be accompanied by improved stability 

 of States and counties, of agriculture, of service activ- 

 ities such as railroads and supply houses, of financial 

 institutions, of cities and ports, and of all the cultural 

 and educational institutions. On the other hand, 

 experience has shown that depletion will have widely 

 disastrous effects. 



This emphasis upon the public interest does not imply 

 our lack of recognition of the responsibilities of the pri- 

 vate ownerships in the forests and forest industries. On 

 the contrary, the public interest in the perpetuation of 

 the forests is considered so great that private ownership 

 must, increasingly, carry with it clear cut sense of trust 

 or stewardship for a national resource. After all is 

 said and done, we are all compelled to recognize the 

 age-old principle that private ownership, as an institu- 

 tion, is dependent on the use of property for the put)lic 

 good in the long run, and if private ownerslup is unable 

 to meet this standard, public action of one form or 

 another becomes necessary. Further progress toward 

 such an attitude, and consequently toward improved 

 control of the conservation and utilization of the forest 

 resources, is a matter for action by the industry and the 

 private owners of forest land, as rapidly as legislative, 

 economic, and technical progress will permit, as well as 

 by the public. 



The whole situation clearly warrants the promj)t 

 application of fundamental changes by which the timber 

 industrj^ and its dependent comminiities will stop the 

 unsound practice of consuming forest capital. This 

 calls for an understanding appraisal of the problems of 

 private forest land owners, to the end that fairness may 

 be practiced and the burdens equitably distributed, 

 bringing about a prompt shift from jiresent undesirable 

 practices to the urgently desired ones. 



Recommendalions. — The Regional Phuuiing Com- 

 mission commends the accompanying staff report to 

 wide consideration as an assembly, arrangement and 

 interpretation of factual information pertinent to this 

 study of the forest resource and to a program of neeiled 

 action. 



The Regional Rlanning Conmiission endorees, ami 

 recommends — for consideration on the part of the 

 Federal (iovernment and its several branches and 

 departments, the State governments, forest-land owners 

 and operators, the forest and related industries, various 

 economic and social groups, and the general public — 

 the report and recommendations of its Forest Advisory 

 Cormiiittee. 



A forest program for tlic Pacific Northwest, wiiich is 

 the subject of this connnittcc icpiut, nuist inevitably 

 be an extremely significant part of any plan for the 

 social and economic future of the count rj- as a whole. 



For greater emphasis, the Regional Planning Com- 



