roadside and shade trees. The small expenditures 
for control of other forest insects—the bark beetles, 
weevils, defoliators, and other pests—reflect the 
national disregard for the heavy damage inflicted 
by them. 
Federal expenditures exceeded 40 million dol- 
lars, about 75 percent of the total. A consider- 
able part was spent on Federal forests. However, 
more Federal money was spent on private and 
State forest lands than the 13.5 million dollars 
from State and private sources. Most of the lat- 
ter was for gypsy moth alone. 
Emergency appropriations for the CCC, WPA, 
and other work-relief programs represented 54 per- 
cent of Federal expenditures for 1936—45 and about 
45 percent of the total expenditures from all 
sources. Regular Federal appropriations increased 
from 1.3 million dollars in 1936 to nearly 3.1 mil- 
lion in 1945. 
Control of insects and diseases has been too slow- 
paced. Valuable time has too often been lost 
while awaiting special Federal or State appropria- 
tions, or participation by private forest owners. 
With this record of “‘too little and too late,” 
the continuing threat of major insect and disease 
epidemics should be faced squarely. A widespread 
outbreak of spruce budworm now threatens spruce 
and balsam in the Northeast. The valuable com- 
mercial white pines may be confined by blister 
rust to areas of high productivity where expensive 
control can be economically justified. Destruc- 
tive outbreaks of bark beetles and other major 
pests are hazards over wide areas. It will take fast, 
concerted action on a much more ample scale to 
keep losses to a tolerable level. 
Clearly, several things have been lacking. Among 
them is a well-organized detection system to catch 
incipient outbreaks before they grow. With this, 
there. should be adequate facilities for prompt 
suppression. Epidemics, like fires, almost invari- 
ably spread from small infestation centers.  Dis- 
covering the trouble spots while they are small 
should not be left to chance. As in fire control, 
time is of the essence in both detection and sup- 
pression. 
Not the least of obstacles is the deficiency of 
technical information on which to base control 
action. There are many gaps in knowledge despite 
the effective work done in limited research.3¢ For 
one thing, not enough is known about foreign 
pests. Machinery for preventing their entry is 
well developed. This, however, cannot operate 
as an efficient selective quarantine without more 
advance knowledge of potentially dangerous intro- 
ductions. 
Public agencies will have to lead the way in 
prevention and control. Indeed, as in forest-fire 
protection, the Federal-State responsibility is para- 
mount. It rests, in general, on the huge public 
stake in forest resources; on the need for blanket 
application of control measures without respect to 
landownership or State lines; on the inability of 
individual owners acting alone to cope with these 
risks. 
Control operations have demonstrated the need 
for concerted action—Federal, State, and private— 
particularly where forest lands of diverse owner- 
ship are intermingled. ‘These activities need to 
be greatly stepped up. Private participation has 
been mostly by organized protective associations 
in the West. State participation has been limited. 
A primary need is for Federal leadership and par- 
ticipation at least on a par with that provided 
in cooperative fire control. 
The Forest Pest Control Act of June 25, 1947, 
marks a notable advance toward meeting this 
need. It recognizes the Federal responsibility in 
Nation-wide forest protection against insects and 
diseases and provides flexible authority for direct 
action and for cooperation with State and other 
agencies. It sets the stage for an adequate system 
to detect incipient outbreaks and suppress them 
promptly. 
On the whole, the protection of forests—whether 
against bugs, decay, or fire—is of high priority, and 
we need to get on with it without delay. There 
is widespread acceptance of the need for elimi- 
nating these hazards. There is also reasonable 
agreement on how to do it. Moreover, it is an 
essential phase of the much larger problem of 
getting good forestry practiced on private lands. 
8° Research expenditures, 1936-45, totaled only 3.8 million 
dollars—mostly Federal. 
86 Miscellaneous Publication 668, U.S. Department of Agriculture 
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