4 MISC. PUBLICATION 2 4 7, IT. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



relief, and drought relief. And in all this, the Forest Service took the 

 lead. Its projects were started promptly after the funds were allo- 

 cated and they have always employed a high percentage of direct labor. 

 During the 12 months ended June 30, 1934, better than 70 percent of 

 all work projects on Federal, State, and private lands — which engaged 

 the Civilian Conservation Corps with an enrolled strength that 

 exceeded 350,000 men — was planned and supervised by the Forest 

 Service working in part through State conservation agencies. By the 

 fall of 1935 the enrollment had reached the high mark of 500,000 men, 

 employed in 2,400 camps in every State in the Union and Alaska, 

 Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands. Later the corps was 

 reduced to a normal strength of 350,000 men. By the end of the year 

 1938 the volume of work accomplished by the C. C. C. was expressed 

 in staggering figures: 2,500 fire towers constructed, 96,000 miles of 

 truck trails built, 4,000,000 man-days of fire fighting, 10,000,000 acres 

 of "bug control," and 1% billion trees planted are a few of the more 

 than 160 activities of the organization. 



FORESTRY HELPS TO BUILD PERMANENT ECONOMIC 



PROSPERITY 



But forestry's contribution, distinctly helpful though it has been in 

 the emergency period, goes deeper than this. For the national-forest 

 emergency-work program was part of a comprehensive plan made long 

 before the depression struck. Forest projects are so planned and 

 executed that the work is essentially an investment. Noncompetitive 

 with industry, this work is constructive and worth while. Rebuilding 

 men, it contributes to human welfare. Rebuilding forests, it does 

 more than assist during the emergency period ; it helps to lay founda- 

 tions for permanent economic prosperity. 



Those foundations are broad. For in the continental United 

 States there are some 630,000,000 acres of land which are more valua- 

 ble for forest and allied uses than for any other purpose. They make 

 up almost one-third of our total land surface. And since forests are 

 products of the soil, they need not be mined. Like crops, they are 

 susceptible of renewal and management in accordance with knowTi 

 sciences and practices. Treated thus, forest lands need not be dev- 

 astated; need not create ghost towns or rural slums. They may, 

 instead, be kept productive and be so managed that they will always 

 contribute to the permanent support of their fair share of the country's 

 population. 



THE FOREST PROBLEM IS A SOCIAL ONE 



Our forest problem has to do, it is true, with trees and the soil from 

 which they spring. But through forestry, trees are no longer an end 

 in themselves. They are crops; their real function is to add continu- 

 ously to the permanent welfare of individuals, families, and com- 

 munities; the people of the Nation. This is the real purpose of public 

 conservation policies. It is the objective toward which the Forest 

 Service is directing ever-increasing efforts. So in normal times, as in 

 emergency periods, forestry and the work of the Forest Service have 

 definite meanings for all of us. For example: 



