FOREWORD 



In the United States, much thought is being given to the relation of 

 sustained-yield forestry to employment and the support of permanent 

 communities. It is of interest, therefore, to know something about the 

 way in which the forests provide rural employment and thus supple- 

 ment agriculture in countries where forestry has been widely practiced 

 for a long time. Germany is one of those countries. There, the use 

 of most of the land has become fairly well stabilized. More than 

 one-fourth of the land surface is covered with forest, and a large part 

 of the forest area has been under relatively intensive management 

 for well over a hundred years. 



This study was undertaken for the purpose of learning the extent 

 to which the German forests afford work opportunities, particularly 

 for rural people. It must be recognized from the start that political 

 and social institutions and economic conditions in Germany are very 

 unlike those in this country. Any form of sustained-yield forest 

 management which may be developed in this country, therefore, must 

 spring from our own economic conditions and political and social 

 traditions. In working out methods and policies adapted to our own 

 conditions, however, it is helpful to know what has happened elsewhere. 



One fact, borne out by long experience not only in Germany but 

 also in other countries with quite different institutions and philos- 

 ophies, is that managed forests do provide a large and reasonably 

 steady volume of work, and thereby contribute immeasurably toward 

 the existence and welfare of permanent agriculture and settled rural 

 populations. There is every reason to suppose that the general 

 adoption of sustained-yield forest management in this country will 

 have similar results. 



F. A. Silcox, 

 Chief j Forest Service. 



