Landowners could well utilize idle farm labor during win- 

 ter months for this purpose. It is possible to clean several 

 acres per man-day even in very brushy areas. Winter is 

 the best time for this work as the brush is more easily 

 cut and handled when the leaves are absent. 



This system is very effective where reproduction is 

 present, but cannot be recommended as a method of aid- 

 ing the re-establishment of pine by natural seeding when 

 the area is completely occupied by shrubs and bushes. 

 More drastic exposure of the mineral soil is needed when 

 the above condition exists. 



3. Fire. The use of fire, fire that is expertly controlled 

 as to time, place, and size, is one of the most valuable sil- 

 vicultural aids. Observations in the field, plus collateral 

 reading, indicate that the use of controlled fire is not only 

 desirable, but necessary if pine is to be retained as a com- 

 mercial crop in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. 



Several points must also be made quite clear before pro- 

 ceeding with a discussion of the use of fire. 



1. The present fire control system must be strengthened, 

 especially in the Coastal Plain, so that "wild" fire can 

 be controlled. This point cannot be overemphasized. 

 Adequate and continuing control of wild fire is abso- 

 lutely essential before a program of controlled fire can 

 be initiated. 



2. Present fire protection educational efforts should be 

 changed to a program that admits the intelligent use of 

 fire as a silvicultural tool, while decrying the damage 

 done by fire. Modify the present approach to the subject 

 and present scientific facts. The N. C. Division of For- 

 estry and Parks is already using this new approach on 

 a trial basis. Many landowners have seen the beneficial 

 effects of light accidental fires on the establishment of 

 pine reproduction and have begun to wonder if forest- 

 ers know what they are talking about. If foresters lose 

 the confidence of landowners, any program will fail. 



3. All hardwood sites must be excluded from such dis- 

 cussion. Good hardwood producing areas must have fire 

 exclusion at all times. 



4. Last, but not least, it is reasonable to assume that 

 the landowner, and those who come in contact with the 

 woods, will not use the idea of controlled burning as 

 an excuse to burn up the state. A burning permit sys- 

 tem, liability laws, and enforcement control are still in 

 effect to take care of the irresponsible person. If land- 

 owners are shown the value of their timber, both pres- 

 ent and future, on a cash basis, they will not willfully 

 destroy their assets. Timber values are not yet known 

 to many landowners, as evidenced by their method of 

 "lump sale" and the destructive cutting allowed on 

 their property. More education of a practical nature 

 is sorely needed. 



What is the reason for wanting to use controlled fire in 

 the first place? How did the pine stands in the Piedmont 

 and Coastal Plain originate? The answer to the latter 

 question is land abandonment in the Piedmont and fire in 

 the Coastal Plain. The fine stands of longleaf pine that 

 were found in the Coastal Plain by early settlers were the 

 result of fire. Dr. B. W. Wells, Head of the Botany De- 

 partment, N. C. State College, in referring to the South- 

 eastern Coastal Plain, states: "So universal is fire in the 

 area that mature climatic climax communities are un- 

 known. All evidence indicates that the extensive pine for- 



ests are fire sub-climaxes. The hypothetical suggestion of- 

 fered for the upland climaxes is a dry oak one for the 

 deep, coarse sand; moist oak-hickory on the finer sand 

 textures; with beech-maple on the moist slope bases. On 

 more moist sites, but locations not wet enough to carry 

 swamp forest, a characteristic community of red bay, 

 sweet gum, red maple and sweet bay may be expected." 



If uncontrolled fire in the past was a factor in the de- 

 velopment of fine stands of pine over large areas, it is 

 quite reasonable to suppose that even better stands could 

 be evolved when fire is used as a tool, intelligently ap- 

 plied. 



Lack of research in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of 

 North Carolina is a definite handicap at present. The so- 

 lution of this problem should be undertaken as soon as pos- 

 sible and definite burning procedures established for the 

 various topographic types. Rolling uplands, sand hills, fiat 

 woods, bays and pocosins should receive separate study 

 as no one set of standards will apply for all conditions. It 

 may be found that bays and pocosins should be excluded 

 from burning altogether. 



Some few experimental burnings have been made, but 

 have been quite limited in their extent. Carl G. Krueger, 

 Forest Supervisor, Pisgah-Croatan National Forests, 

 states: "Some prescribed burning was carried out on the 

 Croatan district in 1942. The burning was carefully done, 

 but was on a very small scale. No cost figures were kept. 

 Heavy fire damage from wildfire, that same spring, large- 

 ly nullified some of the work, since some of the areas were 

 covered or surrounded by wildfire. Results on these areas 

 where identity could be maintained were fairly good. The 

 rough was reduced markedly, percentage of brown spot on 

 young longleaf pine was reduced, and a good catch of 

 seedlings has been obtained. Our burning has been confined 

 to the longleaf pine type as fire should be excluded from 

 the pocosins or loblolly pine sites." 



Not only does prescribed burning benefit long-leaf pine, 

 but when properly used, burning may accomplish the de- 

 sired results with loblolly pine as well. Professor H. H. 

 Chapman, School of Forestry, Yale University, has shown 

 that fire can be used to advantage in loblolly pine stands 

 in Arkansas and West Louisiana, and has made specific 

 recommendations for its use on certain industrial forest 

 areas in North Carolina. If these recommendations are 

 carried out, the results will be most interesting to all con- 

 cerned. 



It is not possible to make definite statements on con- 

 trolled burning procedures in this state. Procedures de- 

 veloped in other sections might well apply here, either in 

 modified form or in the same form. Men must be trained 

 to carry out any controlled burning program, or it will fail 

 from the start. Many an owner in the Deep South has too 

 quickly assumed that controlled burning was an easy mat- 

 ter, with the result that he burned up many dollars worth 

 of timber. 



REGULATION OF COMMERCIAL TIMBER 

 CUTTING 



The idea of regulating timber cutting has been talked 

 about for many years in America. Proponents of regula- 

 tion have been more vociferous in the last 10 years than 

 in all preceding years. The U. S. Forest Service is clamor- 

 ing for national regulatory legislation and seems to have 



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