FOREST CONDITIONS IN TENNESSEE. 37 



there would be no inducement for a timber operator, owning only 

 the stumpage rights, to adopt such a policy unless some special ar- 

 rangement were made for this by the landowner. 



FOREST POLICY FOR THE STATE. 



NECESSITY FOR ACTION. 



It was not possible with the time and funds available for the pre- 

 liminary study upon which this report is based to estimate the 

 amount of standing timber or determine how soon a scarcity of the 

 supply is likely to be felt. However, it is already becoming diffi- 

 cult for consumers of high-grade lumber to get enough raw material 

 for their uses. All indications point to a continued supplanting of 

 higher grade timber, with lower grades as far as this is possible, 

 and to a period of scarcity and restricted production in the not far 

 distant future. Eventually the annual cut will have to adjust it- 

 self to the annual growth of timber on the forest lands of the State. 



The exhaustion of the virgin timber is not in itself a disadvan- 

 tage. It is even necessary that mature and decadent timber be cut 

 out to prevent loss and to allow younger trees room for development. 

 The great evil lies in the fact that little or no attention is paid to 

 securing and fostering a valuable second growth. There is a great 

 deal of land in the rougher parts of Tennessee that will yield little 

 or nothing in any other crop than forest trees. Yet in the face of 

 the growing scarcity of timber, these lands are being allowed to 

 become unproductive through neglect. If timber lands are to re- 

 main in a productive state, they must be treated intelligently. No 

 one expects to grow any other crop without attention, and yet no 

 other crop matures so slowly as the forest crop or requires so long 

 a time for the rectifying of mistakes in management. 



The forest land of Tennessee is practically all held by private in- 

 dividuals, and by far the greater part will continue to be so held. 

 If forestry is to be practiced, it must, therefore, be by these private 

 owners. Most of them will do little or nothing along this line un- 

 less the State shows them the need and advantage and assists them 

 in using proper methods. In addition, the State should help in giv- 

 ing the landowners protection from fire. There is now a fire law 

 on the statute books which provides penalties for setting forest fires 

 carelessly or willfully, but it lacks an appropriation to make it ef- 

 fective. 



In this connection it should be remembered that the Appalachian 



