INTRODUCTION 



FORESTRY AS A NATIONAL PROBLEM 



* 



The forest problem is, both locally and nation- 

 ally, of vital internal importance. Not only is 

 wood the chief product of the forest indispen- 

 sable to our daily life, but the forest plays an im- 

 portant role in regulating stream flow, thereby re- 

 ducing the severity of floods and preventing ero- 

 sion. For these reasons the preservation of forests 

 ceases to be a problem of private or individual con- 

 cern, but forthwith becomes a governmental prob- 

 lem, or, at best, an enterprise which should be 

 jointly controlled by the National Government and 

 the individual States. 



Our Consumption of Wood. It is often said 

 that wood enters into our daily life from the time 

 we are born until we die from the cradle to the 

 coffin. It is difficult to imagine a civilization with- 

 out wood. In our country in a single year we use 

 90,000,000 cords of firewood, nearly 40,000,000,000 

 feet of lumber, 150,000,000 railroad ties, nearly 

 1,700,000,000 barrel staves, 445,000,000 board feet 

 of veneer, over 135,000,000 sets of barrel headings, 



xiii 



