FORESTRY AXD PERMANENT PROSPERITY 



THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



The national-forest system, established in 1891, is now fairly 

 familiar to our people. There are today 161 individual national 

 forests and purchase units, located in 36 States, Alaska, and Puerto 

 Rico. Their boundaries include over 227,000,000 acres, of which more 

 than 175,000,000 acres are in Federal ownership (fig. 1). Their re- 

 sources — wood, water, forage, wildlife, recreation, and many others — 

 are administered under a multiple-use system which insures perpetu- 

 ation of all resources through use; assures the greatest good to the 

 greatest number of people in the long run. 



FARM WOODLANDS 



Most people think of the Forest Service as guardian and admin- 

 istrator of these national forests and their resources. This is true. 

 But it also has other obligations, several of which are closely allied 

 with agriculture. 



One of these concerns farm woodlands ; tree lands which, owned by 

 farmers, aggregate about one-third of all our commercial forest lands 

 and occupy more acres than any other crop on farms in the United 

 States. These farm woods annually furnish timber, fuel, fence posts, 

 and supplemental cash incomes to more than 2,500,000 farmers. So, 

 since effective woodland management is a vital part of national agri- 

 culture, Federal cooperation in farm forestry is authorized. Under 

 the Clarke-McNary law, its methods and technique are cooperatively 

 developed, and its results are made available by the Extension Service 

 of the Department of Agriculture and extension foresters of the vari- 

 ous agricultural colleges. Cooperative forestry extension is now con- 

 ducted in more than 2,000 counties. It includes assistance in forest 

 management and in planting for timber production and windbreaks, 

 advice, and assistance in estimating and marketing timber and wood 

 products, and in protecting farm forests from fire, insects, and tree 

 diseases. Fifty-one extension foresters are employed in 40 States 

 and Puerto Rico. 



PRAIRIE STATES FORESTRY PROJECT 



The Prairie States forestry project also has a vital meaning to a 

 rural population. In its immediate aspect, this project has helped 

 provide relief for an agricultural region seriously distressed by drought . 

 Its concept is, however, a very broad one. In it is envisioned a major 

 physical and social contribution to planned agriculture in the Plains 

 States. This contribution is to be made through the medium of pro- 

 tective plantings of trees, but not just any trees planted in any place 

 irrespective of soil, moisture, or other conditions. 



Back of the Prairie States forestry project is a great deal of careful, 

 painstaking research by State agricultural colleges and many Federal 

 bureaus. Factors affecting plant growth in the region have been 

 studied and reviewed: conditions, records, and practices have been 

 explored. Data have been assembled, analyzed, and correlate*] 

 Major policies and practices have been worked out in cooperation with 

 State and local authorities and standards of performance have been 

 established. Guess-work has been eliminated. 



