1402 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



National Forests. 



The Federal holdings should be extended by purchase, 

 by exchange of stumpage for land, and by placing under 

 permanent administration forest lands now in the un- 

 reserved public domain. 



The program of acquisition should seek two classes 

 of forest land : 



1. Areas needed for the protection of water re- 

 sources, to prevent erosion, for recreation and other gen- 

 eral public purposes. These should include both virgin 

 forests and cut-over lands. 



2. Cut-over lands, with the purpose of insuring the 

 production of lumber and other products and of estab- 

 lishing demonstration areas and centers for Federal 

 cooperation with States and private owners. 



The present Weeks Law program contemplates the 

 purchase of about one million acres in New England 

 and five million acres in the Southern Appalachians. 

 This program should be completed as fast as is compat- 

 ible with public financial conditions, and should be ex- 

 tended to include other important areas needed for water- 

 shed protection and other general public service. Lands 

 acquired for protective purposes as well as those for 

 lumber production should be distributed through all 

 forest regions of the country. 



The acquisition of cut-over lands by exchange for 

 stumpage would serve to consolidate and block out the 

 National Forests of the West. This principle has already 

 been recognized in several special laws applicable to 

 certain Forests. 



There are still forest lands in the public domain which 

 should be added to the National Forests. There are 

 several million acres of such lands outside of Alaska. 

 The great forests of the interior of Alaska should also 

 be placed under adequate protection and administration. 



State Forests. 



The States should establish public forests, with the 

 same general objectives as the Federal Government, 

 and with special reference to the economic and industrial 

 needs within their boundaries. Many western and south- 

 ern States still own forest lands received from previous 

 grants from the Government; these should be placed 

 under permanent forest administration, with provision 

 for the settlement of areas suited to agriculture. Lands 

 reverting to the States for taxes or otherwise should, 

 where practicable, be retained arid used to build up 

 permanent public forest reservations. 



Other Public Forests. 



Every encouragement should be offered to munici- 

 palities to establish public forests or woodland parks. 

 These may be necessary to protect the local water sup- 

 plies, or to serve as public recreation grounds; and in 

 many instances they may yield products that will help 

 in a material way to reduce local taxation for schools 

 or public works. Permanent institutions and organiza- 

 tions of a quasi-public character should also be encour- 

 aged to acquire forests and handle them on the basis of 

 continued production. 



Private Forests. 

 The safeguarding and perpetuation of forests on 

 private lands are possible through an organized system 

 of protection, through the prohibition of destructive 

 processes that produce waste lands, and through the 

 promotion of constructive and entirely practical meas- 

 ures of forestry. The participation, liberal cooperation, 

 and direction of the public in working out the problems 

 involved are necessary for success. 



Fire Protection. 

 The objectives of fire protection are : 



1. To prevent destruction and injury to standing 

 timber by fire. 



2. To safeguard young growth already established 

 within the older timber and on cut-over lands. 



3. To promote natural reproduction so far as this 

 can be done by fire protective measures. 



Effective fire protection is achieved only through a 

 joint undertaking between the public and private agencies 

 in which all lands, regardless of ownership, are brought 

 under an organized system. Such a system requires : 



1. An effective service for preventing forest fires 

 and detecting and suppressing those which may be 

 started. Such a service already exists in a number of 

 States. 



2. Improvements needed for the prompt detection 

 and suppression of fires. These include roads, trails, 

 lookout stations, properly located stations for rangers, 

 bases for airplanes when these are used, and so on. 



3. Measures to reduce the inflammability of the for- 

 ests. These may consist of lopping the tops, as is prac- 

 ticed in parts of the East ; or burning the brush in piles 

 as conducted in many pine stands on the National For- 

 ests ; or burning over at the proper season cleared areas, 

 protected by fire lines, as in heavy Douglas fir stands ; or 

 in felling dead snags, as is required in many National 

 Forest timber sales; and in other measures. In some 

 places fire lines may be desirable, as practiced in southern 

 California ; or carefully controlled burning at the proper 

 season of strips and selected areas, as is practical in 

 certain open pine forests. Uncontrolled light burning 

 should be prohibited everywhere. 



4. A vigorous campaign of education of the public 

 regarding the danger of forest fires and the need of 

 cooperation on the part of every user of the woods. 



5. A systematic campaign of law enforcement, m 

 which all citizens should be asked to cooperate, to punish 

 those who by carelessness or intent start fires or permit 

 their spread. 



There should be incorporated in the forest laws of 

 every State requirements to bring all forest owners into 

 the protective system, and to extend it to all cut-over 

 and unimproved lands in the State, together with the 

 disposal, by lopping or burning, of dangerous slashings 

 and other special measures that the local conditions may 

 require. 



