State forests are represented by one area of approxi- 

 mately 40,000 acres in Bladen County. Acquisition of land 

 for state forests is urgently needed. If and when forest 

 lands now operated by the War Department become un- 

 necessary as military establishments, the state should 

 make every effort to acquire these lands for state forests. 

 This is an immediate concern. (Other means of acquiring 

 state forests are discussed in another section.) 



Failure to acquire lands for state forests has seriously 

 handicapped the forest conservation movement. Practically 

 all states that have made their names stand out in the 

 field of conservation own state forests or are busily acquir- 

 ing them. Private owners should be encouraged to keep 

 and develop forest lands where they want to, but in some 

 sections of North Carolina, more public forests are indi- 

 cated and seem to be locally desired. State forests can be 

 small units and as such will fit the needs that exist today. 

 "Underneath all, the land." Prestige for state conservation 

 is lost if the land goes out of state sovereignty. State for- 

 ests add stability to conservation work; are proving 

 grounds for techniques; training grounds for personnel 

 who are to assist private owners; useful for demonstra- 

 tions ; strong "anchor points" which help private owners in 

 fire control; and, finally, they will more than pay their 

 way. 



Approximately one-half of the commercial forest acre- 

 age of North Carolina is classified as farm woodland by 

 the U. S. Census of 1940. These figures, as well as those 

 from other sources, are only approximately correct. The 

 error in acreage may be considerable, due to the methods 

 of classifying farm woodland. For example, according to 

 U. S. Census definitions, if a tract of 1500 acres had three 



acres of cultivated land and 1497 acres of forest, the forest 

 area would be classified as farm woodland, although this 

 area would not function as a farm woods and would not 

 be managed as such. Regardless of the above classification,, 

 the farm forest is one of the State's important assets. The 

 majority of the farmers still do not appreciate the value of 

 their woodlands, but progress is being made in farm for- 

 estry, especially since 1943, when the state and federal 

 governments began to put Farm Foresters into the coun- 

 ties to help owners on the ground. 



There are approximately one and one-half million acres 

 of forest land industrially owned in North Carolina. This 

 figure was developed from the tax records of each of the 

 100 counties. There was no way of determining the amount 

 of forest land owned by small sawmill operators, who are 

 not listed as timber companies in the tax records. 



With the possible exception of the pulp companies and 

 a few progressive lumber companies, the wood-using in- 

 dustries of North Carolina have not taken advantage of 

 the timber growing possibilities of lands in this state. It 

 has been said that lumber companies keep their "brains" 

 in the office, and do not know much about the woods — other 

 than how much timber there is, and how to get it out. 

 Pulp companies have technically trained men in the woods 

 and know growth possibilities. They have acquired, and 

 are still acquiring, lands on which they intend to practice 

 good forestry measures. 



Lumber companies in Alabama, Arkansas, and other 

 Southern States have acquired lands and are making the 

 practice of forestry a paying proposition. The question 

 was asked, "Why have most companies failed to do so in 

 this state, even though some have owned large tracts in 



Table 3b 



COUNTY STATISTICS: FOREST LAND OWNERSHIP 



(ACRES) 



SOUTH COASTAL PLAIN 



Forest Area 



County (Acres) 



Bladen 425,295 



Brunswick 472,118 



Columbus 471,754 



Cumberland 280,475 



Duplin 347,739 



Greene 73,340 



Harnett 238,134 



Hoke 177,523 



Johnston 233,030 



Jones 231,931 



Lee 101,837 



Lenoir 129,124 



Moore 321,270 



New Hanover 91,133 



Onslow 373,041 



Pender 465,111 



Richmond 191,411 



Robeson 326,851 



Sampson 367,943 



Scotland 112,801 



Wayne 175,824 



Regional Totals 5,607,685 



* Bladen Lakes State Forest. 



Public Forest 

 Reserve 



Commercial 

 Forest Area 



National 

 Forest 



Farm 

 Woodland 



Other 



500 1 



424,795 



472,118 

 471,754 

 280,475 

 347,739 



73,340 

 238,134 

 177,523 

 233,030 

 231,931 

 101,837 

 129,124 

 321,270 



91,133 

 373,041 

 465,111 

 191,411 

 326,851 

 367,943 

 112,801 

 175,824 



500 



5,607,685 



40,000* 



28,989 



28,989 



150,635 



274,160 



124,353 



347,765 



179,080 



292,674 



111,773 



168,702 



166,456 



181,283 



48,810 



24,530 



119,075 



119,059 



58,746 



118,777 



184,696 



48,334 



57,495 



145,447 



61,621 



40,216 



82,710 



46,414 



140,516 



180,754 



11,926 



79,207 



97,568 



275,473 



78,412 



386,699 



77,259 



114,152 



146,966 



179,885 



214,475 



153,468 



33,619 



79,182 



103,516 



72,308 



2,249,707 



3,288,489 



(10) 



