| 
| 
mainly on the private land. ‘Three-fourths of the 
commercial forest land—345 million acres of it—is 
privately owned. ‘This includes by and large the 
best growing sites and the most accessible locations. 
Privately owned forests furnish some 90 percent 
of the timber cut. They will continue to be the 
main source of timber although the contribution of 
public forests should increase. 
14. Private forests need much better protection. 
Fire continues to take a heavy toll despite the great 
progress in cooperative fire control begun in 1911. 
Organized protection was provided for 319 million 
acres in 1946, but much of this did not meet de- 
sirable standards. About one-fourth of the private 
land in need of organized protection, chiefly in the 
South and the Central region, is still without it. 
Moreover, comparatively little has been done to 
curb insect pests and diseases, which take an even 
heavier toll of timber. As in fire control, it will 
take organized, collective action on a much more 
ample scale as contemplated in the Forest Pest Con- 
trol Act of June 25, 1947, to cope adequately 
with these hazards. 
15. Timber-cutting practices on private lands, 
with some notable exceptions, are far from satisfac- 
tory. Encouraging progress has been made in 
recent years, especially in the South, but about 
two-thirds of the cutting on private lands is still 
poor or destructive, and only 8 percent is up to 
really good forestry standards. The 51 million 
acres in some 400 properties of more than 50,000 
acres each, chiefly lumber- and pulp-company hold- 
ings, receives the best treatment. About 39 per- 
cent of the cutting on these lands is on a sustained 
yield basis, and 29 percent is good or high order. 
But these large holdings comprise only 15 percent 
of the commercial forest land in private ownership. 
Three-fourths of it, about 261 million acres, is held 
by more than 4 million small owners in properties 
averaging only 62 acres each. About 71 percent 
of the cutting on this land, more than half of which 
is farm woodland, is poor or destructive. 
16. The small private holding is the toughest 
problem. Many of the obstacles to better forestry 
stem from the huge number of these small prop- 
erties; their small, often uneconomic, size; the di- 
versity of aims and lack of skill with which they 
are handled; the instability of their ownership 
and management; the lack of capital and the pres- 
sure for current income. Yet the small holdings 
include much of the most accessible and potentially 
the most productive forest land. Practical means 
Forests and National Prosperity 
‘unnecessary forest destruction. 
must be found to bring this large and important 
segment of private forests under good management. 
Herein is one of the knottiest problems in Ameri- 
can forestry. 
17. Public action is needed to get good forestry 
on private forest lands. Although private owners 
have the main responsibility for putting their lands 
under good management, the public, too, has a 
big stake in this. The public role should be to 
help minimize the handicaps, to encourage and 
assist, and to apply appropriate restraints to stop 
Where handicaps 
are too great—particularly where forests are run- 
down and returns are small or long-deferred—or 
where benefits and services accrue mainly to the 
public at large, permanent public ownership and 
management is generally the answer. A large 
acreage now privately owned is in this category. 
But private forestry can succeed on the greater 
part of the land; there are examples now, in every 
region and among many classes of owners. 
18. American forestry has made great strides but 
there is still a big job to do. We have the world’s 
greatest public forest system—the national forests— 
with a large backlog of timber and other important 
values under stable and sound management. Other 
Federal forest lands have also been placed under 
management. State forestry activities have been 
steadily expanded and strengthened. Much prog- 
ress has been made in protecting forests from fire. 
Research, on which the techniques and “know- 
how” of forestry depend, has made great head- 
way, especially in recent years. We have the be- 
ginnings of an effective program of aids to small 
owners. A substantial acreage of private forests— 
mostly in the larger holdings—is under management 
and a growing number of owners are practicing 
good forestry. Many are buying more land for 
timber growing. And, among the hopeful factors, 
there are today’s good markets and favorable eco- 
nomic climate which, if maintained and taken 
advantage of, can do much to advance the forestry 
movement. All these things augur well for the 
future. 
Nevertheless, little more than a beginning has 
been made toward achieving a sound, permanent 
forest economy in this country. Clearly much re- 
mains to be done to strengthen and equip public 
forests for a greater output and to get good forestry 
on the great bulk of the private lands. A _piece- 
meal attack, as at present, will not suffice. The 
Nation needs a comprehensive, unified forest policy 
5 
