FIFTH NATIONAI, CONSERVATION CONGRESS 371 



they are unquestionably initial steps which must be worked out before anything 

 more intensive can be attempted. 



What is more logical than that the successful fire-prevention methods in the 

 Northwestern States and elsewhere, as applied by private owners through 

 cooperative fire patrol associations, should soon lead to a realization that a fine 

 stand of voluntary young growth has come up on cut-over areas? Later, when it 

 becomes apparent that this young growth is worth having because of its potential 

 value, it will be a natural step to modify logging methods so that more and better 

 young growth will follow the logging operations. If these things work out aiid 

 the owner sees a profit in holding his land because of this young growth, he will 

 begin to think about planting up areas which have, been burned or which have 

 failed to reseed naturally. Each one of these steps leads closer to. the kind of 

 private forestry which will provide a timber supply for the future and earn a 

 reasonable profit for the owner. 



From an academic standpoint, this should all perhaps be definitely planned 

 for in advance and an intensive system of management worked out on paper for 

 application in the woods. The fact is, that under present conditions the average 

 private owner will not consider applying such a plan, but he will be guided by 

 the current developments which indicate, from time to time, a change in methods 

 which will be profitable. With better fire protection and closer utilization, 

 wherever the market justifies it, must be expected to come reform in forest 

 taxation and in State forest laws, which will permit capital to remain invested in 

 forest lands with reasonable assurance of a fair return. Even at best, the 

 average timberland owner is not going to make a large profit from practicing 

 forestry, although under ideal conditions it would be a gilt-edged investment. 

 In. some regions and under certain conditions, the State is justified in proffering 

 assistance through cooperation and in planting and fire protection, and everywhere 

 tax laws should be passed which do not impose a heavy burden on the crop while 

 growing and earning nothing, and therefore not in a position to pay. 



Of all the large timberland operations in the United States, not a single case 

 may be cited as an ekample of intensive forest management of the kind taught 

 in schools and seen by every forest student who visits Germany. It may also be 

 safely said that no large lumber company could apply ideal methods without going 

 broke, and this condition will hold true until commercial conditions affecting the 

 lumber market materially change. Another consideration is that our irregular 

 virgin forests are not adapted in their present state to the refined principles of 

 forest management. In most cases they must be cut and started all over again in 

 order to practice real forestry, and it will not be until the end of the first rotation, 

 or at the time the new growth is ready for cutting, that anything widely approach- 

 ing normal forest conditions can be obtained. These conditions, however, have 

 got to be faced, and should not be a bar to the application of improved methods 

 as fast as conditions permit. 



A number of examples of private management, which include at least some of 

 the things which are feasible today, are found throughout the United States. On 

 the ground that fire protection is the first essential, much encouragement is found 



