State, and private forestry. Only within the past two decades has there 

 been a marked growth of interest in and development of community forests. 

 It is the Forest Service's responsibility to exercise leadership in all phases 

 of forestry for the public welfare, including the establishment of community 

 forests. Many Forest Service officers give technical aid to those in charge 

 of community forests in their locality. 



f SHELTERBELT PROJECT 



The Forest Service is vitally concerned with the use of trees in the prairie- 

 plains States. Field windbreaks or shelterbelts are planted in order to pro- 

 vide protection from winds and to help prevent the blowing of soils by 

 checking the velocity of winds. Similarly, they shield growing crops from 

 critically drying winds, add materially to the beauty of the landscape, attract 

 bird life, and improve living conditions for man and beast. 



The Prairie States Forestry Project — as it is called — was started by the 

 Forest Service in 1934. On June 30, 1942, its administration was trans- 

 ferred to the Soil Conservation Service. During this 8-year period, 18,600 

 miles of remarkably successful field shelterbelts were planted on over 33,000 

 farms in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and 

 Texas. The Nation will be permanently benefited by the soil stabilization 

 and reduction of dust storms resulting from the protection afforded by 

 shelterbelts. 



Forest Service Research 



Of basic importance to the administration of the national forests, as to 

 all timber, watershed, and range lands, are the organized fact-finding and 

 interpretive activities that comprise forest and range research. This func- 

 tion of the Forest Service is classified under several broad subjects: forest 

 management and protection, forest influences, utilization of forest products, 

 management and revegetation of forest and other ranges, forest economics, 

 and forest survey. 



All lines of forest research head up in Washington, D. C, but by far the 

 greater part of the work is conducted at 1 2 regional forest and range experi- 

 ment stations and at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis. The 

 territories of the experiment stations roughly correspond to the major forest- 

 type regions of the country. Research results are made available for use 

 not only on the national forests but also on other Federal, State, county, 

 municipal, and private lands. 



Certain areas, most of which lie within the national forests, have been 

 designated as experimental forests or ranges and set aside as outdoor labora- 

 tories on which much of the research in forest, range, and watershed man- 

 agement is carried out. These areas, of which there are several in each 

 region, are under the general supervision of the forest experiment stations. 



The "natural areas," set aside by the Forest Service to illustrate or typify 

 virgin conditions of forest or range cover, are used for purposes of research 

 as well as for historical and educational values. The natural areas, and 

 also the experimental forests and ranges, are generally restricted to use 

 by research or educational institutions. On the experimental forests and 

 ranges the cutting of timber, grazing of cattle, and other uses are permitted 

 only to the extent that they form part of the research plans. 



FOREST MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION 



The purpose of research in forest management is to discover and interpret 

 the facts upon which the full productive management of forest lands for 



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