income. About 800,000 people look to the primary wood-products indus- 

 tries of the South for their livelihood. 



Because second-growth timber on which the wood-products industries 

 largely operate too often is cut without consideration for future forest 

 production, a vast area in the South, as has already occurred in greater or 

 less degree in other regions, will eventually be contributing far less than it 

 should to the economy of the region. This is the type of problem, with 

 variations in regional, industrial, and economic backgrounds, that the 

 Forest Service, through cooperation with State forestry departments and 

 private woodland owners, is attempting to solve. It is only by carefully 

 husbanding the remaining old growth and proper management of existing 

 young growth that we can hope to bridge the gap between the exhaustion 

 of the available supply and the fruition of whatever forest restoration pro- 

 gram is undertaken. Failure to do this will inevitably lead to drastic 

 curtailment of timber supplies. 



Farm Forest Work 



The Government under the Norris-Doxey and Clarke-McNary Acts assists 

 farm-woodland owners in the management and care of their timber. Ap- 

 proximately 185 million acres, or about one-third of the privately owned 

 forest land of the country, is in farm woodlands. Of this total, 139 million 

 acres are capable of producing continuous timber crops and 46 million acres 

 are chiefly valuable for watershed or windbreak protection and as a source 

 of fuel wood, fence posts, and other materials for farm use. 



The majority of the 3^2 million farmers who own woodlands are not fa- 

 miliar with the technical aspects of forest management, and do not appre- 

 ciate the destructive effects of overcutting or overgrazing. Likewise, many 

 are unaware of the increased returns from good timber management, though 

 forest products sold from the farm rank tenth among the 50 leading farm 

 crops. 



In farm forestry work the Department of Agriculture, through its Forest 

 Service, Extension Service, and Soil Conservation Service, cooperates with 

 State extension services, State foresters, soil conservation districts, and agri- 

 cultural experiment stations in 43 States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Empha- 

 sis is placed on the more efficient management of farm woodlands; reforesta- 

 tion of lands not suitable for agriculture; the proper harvesting, marketing, 

 and utilization of farm timber; and the promotion of rural fire prevention. 

 The Federal Government cooperates with the State agencies in the employ- 

 ment of foresters to stimulate interest, give technical advice, and bring the 

 farmer and buyer together. State agencies largely direct the work on the 

 ground. Demonstration areas have been established in many States, where 

 farmers can see practical measures of controlling soil erosion, reducing flood 

 dangers, and increasing forest and woodland values through proper woods 

 practices. 



On June 30, 1942, the Secretary of Agriculture allocated to the Forest 

 Service funds available under the Cooperative Farm Forestry (Norris- 

 Doxey) Act to establish a forest-products marketing service for farmers. 

 In addition to assisting the farmer to obtain full value for his products, the 

 service rendered includes estimating the quantity of timber ready for re- 

 moval, marking trees to be cut in accordance with good forestry practices, 

 providing a sample form of sales agreement, and helping to obtain competi- 

 tive bids. The program has been instrumental in stepping up lumber pro- 

 duction for war needs in the Eastern States without further depletion of 

 future growing stock, 



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