MANAGEMENT PLANS THE NATIONAL FOEESTS 6 



WHAT THEY CONTAIN 



Usually a national forest as a unit is too large and exhibits too 

 great a complexity in conditions to permit of management of its 

 timber resources under one plan; it must be divided into smaller 

 areas or working circles in which the conditions of timber growth 

 and utilization are more susceptible of analysis and appraisal. Man- 

 agement plans are made for working circles; and for these areas 

 they set out a description of the area, the timber, and the economic 

 situation; a delineation of the objects of management; a statement 

 of the policies of the administration in handling the timber re- 

 sources; a determination of the amount of timber to be cut, the 

 period in which it is to be cut, and the manner in which sale areas 

 will be located; and, finally, a budget or list of those specific areas 

 from which timber is to be sold during a given period, usually 5 

 or 10 years. Such plans, while brief and simple in their treatment 

 and as specific as possible in prescriptions for action, do not attempt 

 to give in detail the action to be taken by the forest supervisor in the 

 conduct of his timber business. Only the controlling essentials, the 

 high spots as it were, are touched upon. 



THE PERIOD COVERED 



Economic developments in the national forests generally are occur- 

 ring so rapidly that conditions can not be foreseen with enough 

 clearness and confidence to justify the making of definite provisions 

 for cutting for a full rotation ahead or for even a considerable part 

 of one. It is to be expected that utilization policies and plans will 

 have to be changed as the situation changes, and it is not practicable 

 to attempt commitment, except in regard to general policies, for 

 more than a very few decades in advance. Even in the most in- 

 tensively managed working circles in the national forests the cut- 

 ting budgets are seldom made to cover a period of more than 10 

 years, and they are frequently made for a 5-year period. Where 

 the entire cut of a working circle is taken by one or two operators 

 under long-time contracts, the situation is much simplified and action 

 can be planned with considerable definiteness for a longer period. 



PERIODIC REVISION 



The periodic revision of the cutting budget and the occasional over- 

 hauling of the expression of the policies are necessary in order to 

 keep the plan alive, in tune with circumstances, and practicable of 

 application. Better data on growth and volume, or changes in 

 marketability, may force revision. Except in the case of false pre- 

 mises or of a failure to appraise the situation correctly in the original 

 plan, periodic revision should not change the general course of man- 

 agement ; the main objects of management are carried forward intact 

 as are the major policies of the administration. 



MUST BE PRACTICABLE 



A management plan must stand two rigid tests^-one as to its 

 technical soundness from the standpoint of long-time management — 

 that is, whether it can produce the desired results in the long run; 



