Much of our artificial reforestation is a rehabilitation 

 measure to correct past mistakes. Millions of acres of 

 denuded forest lands in the United States will 

 need to be replanted if they are to be restored to pro- 

 ductivity in any reasonable time. The National Re- 

 sources Board has recommended a 25-year planting 

 program covering 25 million acres. But even when an 

 area is planted we have to wait 50 to 100 years or more 

 before the seedlings grow into good-quality saw timber. 

 So it is far more important to see to it that the kind of 

 neglect and misuse which has made such reforestation 

 necessary is not continued. With proper cutting and 

 other forest practices, most of our existing forest stands 

 can continue to yield merchantable timber at frequent 

 intervals without the necessity of artificial reforestation. 



8. What about "Tree Farms"? 



The forest products industries of Washington and 

 Oregon have launched a splendid movement for the 

 establishment of tree farms — private timberland hold- 

 ings to be managed on a continuing-crop basis. The 

 tree farm idea is being promoted in several other 

 States. Although it carries no guarantee of perma- 

 nence and can not be expected to be universally adopted 

 by the hundreds of thousands of forest land owners 



the plan is highly com- 

 mendable ; if the principles 

 of tree farming are fully 

 carried out by those opera- 

 tors subscribing to the plan, 

 the productivity of their 

 lands w^ill be maintained at 

 a high level. 



It is to be regretted that 

 this plan at times has been 

 described in terms which 

 create the impression that 

 it represents general prac- 



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