fire control, will greatly strengthen the payments and services provided 

 to local governmental units. Any changes in user fees under current 

 consideration by direction of the President might result in higher total 

 income and some shift in proportion from various sources. 



The capital value of the timber, forage, and lands of the National 

 Forest System will have increased by about 2 billion dollars as a result 

 of the program. 



In addition to direct financial income to the United States as a result 

 of the National Forest development program, there will be both sub- 

 stantial secondary benefits and very real intangible benefits. 



Secondary benefits include such things as numbers of people em- 

 ployed directly on the program work and the harvesting of National 

 Forest timber and other products and the value added to those prod- 

 ucts by manufacture, distribution, and marketing. 



Another benefit from the immediate implementation of the program 

 would be the acceleration of the resource development in areas of labor 

 surplus and low rural income. Of the 186 million acres of land under 

 Forest Service administration, approximately 80 million acres are in 

 or adjacent to present areas of labor surplus and low rural incomes. 

 The planned work and the resultant resource development would con- 

 tribute materially to accelerating the economy of these areas. 



The program would provide direct employment in the peak year for 

 approximately 32,750 skilled and unskilled workers. This is based on 

 a 10-year period. However, much of the development work could be 

 compressed in a shorter period to provide a higher level of employment 

 if required by national unemployment situations. 



In timber alone, it is estimated that for every dollar of National 

 Forest stumpage sold, the end products will be worth about 20 dollars 

 by the time they reach the ultimate consumer. This means that the 

 annual sale of 13 billion board feet of sawtimber expected to be 

 reached by the end of the short-term period will have a total consumer 

 value of over 4 billion dollars. The estimated employment directly 

 associated with the utilization of timber harvested from the National 

 Forests will amount to about 800,000 man-years annually by 1972. 

 This will be over twice the current level. 



Similarly, the value of meat, hides, wool, and other livestock 

 products increases with reprocessing and handling as do the num- 

 bers of dependent people. 



It is estimated that recreational use of the National Forest System 

 will reach 195 million visits by 1972, in contrast to the 92.5 million 

 visits in 1960, and a probable 635 million by 2000. The recreationists 

 making these 195 million visits will put into trade channels a total 

 of nearly %\y 2 billion for sporting equipment, transportation, licenses, 

 lodging, and other items. 



Most of the truly intangible values of the National Forests are 

 experienced by those millions of people who use the National Forests 

 for reasons other than commercial utilization of resources. No 

 measure of value expresses the true worth of the relaxation, pleasure, 

 rest, spiritual satisfaction, and improvement in health derived from 

 the National Forests. 



No realistic dollar value can be placed on water from the National 

 Forests. Water is already the most precious commodity in the West 

 and over half of all waterflow in the West originates on the National 

 Forests. These lands will continue indefinitely to be indispensable 



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