FORESTRY AND PERMANENT PROSPERITY 



Their boundaries include over 221,000,000 acres, of which more than 

 170,000,000 acres are in Federal ownership (fig. 1). Their resources — 

 wood, water, forage, wildlife, recreation, and many others — are ad- 

 ministered under a multiple-use system which insures perpetuation 

 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 ad- 

 ministrator 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 more than 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 (pi. 2). So, since effective woodland management is a vital 

 part of national agriculture, Federal cooperation in farm forestry is 

 authorized. Under the Clarke-McNary law, its methods and tech- 

 nique are cooperatively developed, and its results are made available 

 by the Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture and 

 extension foresters of the various agricultural colleges. Cooperative 

 forestry extension is now conducted in more than 1,090 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. Thirty-eight extension foresters 

 are employed in 33 States and Puerto Rico. 



PLAINS SHELTERBELT 



The Plains shelterbelt project also has a vital meaning to a rural 

 population. In its immediate aspect, this project helped provide 

 relief for an agricultural region seriously distressed by drought. But 

 like other forestry ' measures it was broader than this. It envisioned 

 a major physical and social contribution to planned agriculture in 

 the Plains States. The medium for this contribution was trees. The 

 program was one of protective tree planting, but not just any trees, 

 planted in any place, irrespective of soil, moisture, or other condi- 

 tions. For back of this project is a great deal of careful, painstaking 

 research by State agricultural colleges and many Federal bureaus. 

 Factors have been studied and reviewed; conditions, records, and 

 practices have been explored. Data have been assembled, analyzed, 

 and correlated. Major policies and practices have been worked out 

 in cooperation with State and local authorities. Guesswork has 

 been eliminated. 



Although sharply limited by the amount of stock that could be 

 made immediately available, 1 ,280 miles of field shelterbelts had been 

 planted by June 30, 1936. For this work some 20 carefully chosen 

 tree and shrub species were used. The number approximates 

 23,000,000. 



Protective tree planting — even though it be planned — will not of 

 course, stop drought, but it will lessen its local adverse effects. It 



