A POLICY OF FORESTRY FOR THE NATION 



1403 





There should be provided by the State the administra- 

 tive machinery necessary to carry out the work effec- 

 tively. 



The public should share in the burden of protection. 

 The division of cost will necessarily vary in different 

 States, as is now the case among those States which have 

 inaugurated such a system. The public may properly 

 bear the cost of the State-wide patrol system, including 

 overhead, inspection, lookouts, and similar items, and a 

 portion of the fire suppression costs. 



In general, the cost of the preventive system should 

 be shared about equally between the public and the 

 owner of the land. At the present time assistance by 

 the States and the efforts of the private owners alike are 

 inadequate. Measures like brush disposal are essentially 

 a part of the logging operations and should be a charge 

 against it. 



The Federal Government should grant liberal aid in 

 fire protection, far greater than at present. Its aid 

 should be contingent on the State's inaugurating and 

 carrying out such a system as above described. This 

 financial help should not exceed in amount that appro- 

 priated by the State. 



As in fire protection, the spread of dangerous insect 



infestations and diseases requires the aid and direction 



of the public. Both the National and State Governments 



should participate and appropriate liberally to check the 



depredations. 



Forest Renewal. 



The renewal of forests on lands not required for agri- 

 culture and settlement is an essential feature of a national 

 policy of forestry and an effective program should be 

 worked out in each State, backed by appropriate legis- 

 lation and efficient administration, which will achieve 

 this object on private as well as on public property. As 

 in the case of fire protection, forest renewal on private 

 lands requires the participation and aid of the public. 



There are two problems of forest renewal ; first, the 

 restocking of lands already cut over and now in a condi- 

 tion of waste ; and second, that of providing for natural 

 reproduction as the timber is cut. Where there is still 

 seed or seed-bearing trees on cut-over lands, continued 

 fire protection may in many cases suffice for restocking. 

 Where there is no chance for natural reproduction, plant- 

 ing or sowing will be necessary. The public will have 

 to take over a large portion of these lands and restore 

 them to productivity. In many other cases owners may 

 be' induced to restock their waste lands as a business 

 undertaking. 



Provision for forest renewal should be made at the 

 time of cutting. Sufficient restocking of the average 

 private tract can be accomplished by natural reproduc- 

 tion without resort to planting or other intensive meas- 

 ures. On certain types of forest, renewal will result 

 from fire protection alone. In many instances of 

 unrestricted exploitation, however, fire protection alone 

 dues not suffice to secure renewal and to prevent the 

 lands becoming waste. If protection alone does not suf- 

 fice to secure forest reproduction, the owners should be 



required to adopt such measures as may be necessary to 

 accomplish this, with cooperative aid by the public in 

 working out the problem as a practical undertaking. 

 As in the case of fire protection, the additional measures 

 necessary for forest renewal should be made a part of a 

 systematic program in which the public and private 

 owners engage in a joint undertaking with a common 

 objective. 



The first steps in this undertaking are to determine 

 in each region : 



1. The circumstances under which fire protection 

 alone will not suffice to prevent wasting of the land 

 under prevailing methods of lumbering. 



2. The additional measures necessary to secure con- 

 ditions favorable for natural renewal. 



3. The classes of land upon which forest growth 

 should be continued. 



4. The cooperation that should be given by the public 

 to make feasible in practice the measures that may be 

 necessary for the owners to take. 



5. The legislation needed to bring these measures 

 into practice, as a part of the State's program of for- 

 estry. 



As in the case of fire protection, the plan for special 

 measures and for forest renewal should be worked out 

 through State legislation and administration, with the 

 assistance and backing of the Government. The Federal 

 Government should seek to secure concurrent action by 

 the States within given economic regional units, to bring 

 about uniform standards of practice, to conduct experi- 

 ments and research, to grant material aid in various 

 ways, and to act as a coordinating agent to bring to- 

 gether the different local agencies into full cooperation. 

 The Government should make its assistance to the States 

 contingent upon effective action by the latter. 



Measures of forestry upon private lands sought by 

 the proposed program fall into two classes : first, those 

 necessary to prevent the lands becoming waste after 

 lumbering; and second, those which seek a maximum 

 production of timber and other products. The first class 

 of measures should be required on all lands that ought 

 to remain in forest growth. The measures to secure 

 maximum production are of a more-intensive character. 

 They should be encouraged in every way but would not 

 be obligatory. They involve a larger initial invest- 

 ment, and they render a larger ultimate return to the 

 owner. Under the second class fall such measures as 

 planting where needed, leaving a larger number of seed 

 trees, cutting in favorable seed years, leaving medium 

 sized trees even though now saleable for a second cut or 

 for cover, various kinds of thinnings of second growth, 

 organization of the forest work on a basis of sustained 

 annual yield, and so on. Experiments should be con- 

 ducted by the public to establish and make generally 

 known the best practice in each region. Advice by pub- 

 lic officers should be freely afforded. Planting stock 

 should be offered at cost by the public. Taxes should 

 be adjusted to encourage owners to undertake the meth- 

 ods found to be most efficient, and other measures of 



