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 38 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 : More than 41,000,- 

 000 acres of forest land other than that in Federal ownership is 

 burned over annually. Of this, by far the greater part — some 

 38.000,000 acres — is upon unprotected land. The area covered by 

 cooperative protection was, in 1936, some 283,000,000 acres, or only 

 slightly 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 1937 totaled $1,655,007; State and private funds budg- 

 eted for the same period were $5,622,464. Cooperative fire-preven- 

 tion projects are administered by 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 40 States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Approximately 36,000,000 

 trees were distributed in 1936. This stock is distributed by State 



