WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE 23 



A specific example of need for extension of sound forestry man- 

 agement into private forest lands may be seen in the Southern 

 States. In this region there is a capital investment of approximately 

 $150,000,000 in the form of pulp and paper mills dependent upon 

 forests for raw material. About 800,000 people are dependent upon 

 the industry. Operating in the area are more than 10,000 sawmills 

 and a tremendous naval stores industry. Such forest byproducts as 

 telephone poles and railroad ties also add to the timber income. 



If the second-growth timber on which these southern industries 

 largely operate is cut out with no consideration of future forest 

 production, a vast area will gradually be turned from an economic 

 asset into an economic liability. It could then be anticipated that 

 in the South, as has already occurred to greater or less degree in 

 some other regions, a vast area would be left tax-delinquent and 

 devastated, with the social and economic evils attendant upon such a 

 condition. The need for wise forest management aimed at estab- 

 lishing a basis for the support of a permanent prosperity is obvious. 

 This is the type of problem, with variations in regional, industrial, 

 and economic backgrounds, that the Forest Service, through cooper- 

 ation with State forestry departments and private woodland owners, 

 is attempting to solve. 



Definite progress has been made. Several basic fields of action 

 have been established. Protection of forest lands against fire is 

 perhaps the most important task, for fire ruins timber values, de- 

 stroys reproduction of trees, and makes necessary extensive planting 

 programs to return burned-over lands to productivity. 



STATE AID UNDER THE CLARKE-McNARY LAW 



The Federal Government offers financial aid to some 41 States and 

 Hawaii under provisions of the Clarke -McNary law of 1924 to bring 

 private and State-owned forest lands under protection from fire. 

 The importance of this aid is seen in these figures: From 1934 to 

 1938, inclusive, an average of more than 33,000,000 acres of forest 

 land other than that in Federal ownership was burned over annually. 

 Of this, by far the greater part — some 31,000,000 acres — was upon 

 unprotected land. The area covered by cooperative protection was, 

 in 1938, some 269,000,000 acres, only a little more than half of the 

 total area needing protection. The Forest Service is working to 

 increase the area under organized protection. 



Funds allotted by the Federal Government for fire-prevention work 

 during 1939 totaled $2,000,000; State and private funds budgeted for 

 the same period were $7,405,104. Cooperative fire-prevention projects 

 are administered b}- the State forestry departments, aided by the 

 Forest Service in developing plans and inspecting the work. Under 

 terms of the law, the Federal Government limits its expenditures in a 

 given fiscal year to a sum not greater in each State than the funds 

 expended by the State and private owners. Federal allotments in no 

 case may be more than 25 percent of the estimated cost of adequate 

 protection of forest lands in the State. 



The Federal Government also cooperates under the Clarke-McNary 

 law with State and private forest owners in the reforestation of areas 

 in 41 States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Approximately 55,000,000 

 trees were distributed in 1938. This stock is distributed by State 



