National forests. — About 176 million acres of forest land are managed by 

 the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. This 

 land is divided into 161 national forests (fig. 15). Some people who visit 

 national-forest areas are disappointed to find them composed not entirely 

 of stands of virgin timber. There are, of course, large areas of virgin stands 

 in some of the forests, particularly in the Northwest, on which forest 

 management suitable to such stands is being practiced. In the national 

 forests there are also extensive range areas and lands above timber line that 

 have never grown timber. Also there are old burns, and there are 

 areas previously cut over in such a way that it is still possible to practice 

 forestry on them through the medium of timber sales. In the West to 

 some extent and in the East to a larger extent, national-forest acquisition 

 of private lands by exchange and purchase has also added large areas of 

 thrifty second-growth stands and a considerable acreage of land which has 

 been destructively logged and otherwise abused and which must be planted 

 before it can again start producing valuable timber crops. Since forests 

 grow slowly it will be many years before these latter areas will again bear a 

 stand of mature trees. 



State and county forests. — Forty States own forest land and give it some 

 management to make or keep it valuable. Land in State forests amounted 

 to about 13}£ million acres in 1939. It had been acquired as Federal 

 grants, through tax delinquency, as gifts, and by purchase and exchange. 

 The States are assisted in the protection of this land by the Federal 

 Government, under the Clarke-McNary Act which provides forest-fire pro- 

 tection for both State and privately owned forest lands. 



Many counties have acquired forest land through tax delinquency, but 

 very few of them have attempted to develop or manage it. Certain populous 

 counties, such as Los Angeles County, Calif., have acquired extensive forests 

 primarily for watershed purposes. 



Community forests. — A small beginning has been made in developing 

 community forests in this country. Some New England towns have had 

 forests for many years. In Europe this type of ownership is much more 

 common. Sixty-six percent of Swiss forests and 20 percent of the forests 

 in France and in Germany are community owned. 



Commercial forest land. — About one-fourth of the total commercial forest 

 area of 462 million acres, the poorest fourth, is in public ownership (figs. 16 

 and 17). Of this, about four-fifths, or 97 million acres, is owned and 

 managed by the Federal Government in national forests, Indian reservations, 

 and other areas. About 24 million acres are owned by the States, counties, 

 cities, and communities. Commercial forest land in public ownership is 

 protected and managed for permanent timber production and other uses. 

 All forest land in Alaska is under public management. 



Most of the federally owned land is in the West because public domain 

 had not been entirely disposed of there before the Federal Government took 

 steps to set it aside from private entry. 



Noncommercial forest land. — The United States has about 11 million acres 

 of forest lands in national parks and other areas which are not managed for 

 timber production. There are also 157 million acres of lands in various 

 parts of the country which, because of low productivity or extreme inac- 

 cessibility, are not listed as commercial timberlands. In this class might 

 be included the open-grown pinion-juniper lands in the West, chaparral- 

 covered areas in southern California, and the remote and inaccessible 

 mountain ranges. These forests are of value, however, for watershed 



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