PREFACE 



In his special messages to the Congress on "Natural Resources" and 

 on "Agriculture" President Kennedy urged the acceleration of all 

 forest development to insure adequate forest resources in the future, 

 including the development of National Forest resources. 



The "Development Program for the National Forests" herein pre- 

 sented, covers the resource management and development work needed 

 on the National Forests and National Grasslands to assure that these 

 public lands will meet their full share of present and future public 

 needs. 



The major differences between this Program and the previous 

 "Program for the National Forests" submitted to the Congress in 

 March 1959 are the addition of several major needs where these were 

 not previously recognized in full or where subsequent surveys and 

 trends have indicated a higher level of need. The National Forest 

 Recreation Survey completed in 1960 forecasts an estimated 195 mil- 

 lion recreation visits to the National Forests by the end of the 10- 

 year period instead of the previously forecast 130 million visits. Also, 

 current trends in timber harvesting indicate a cut of 13 billion board 

 feet annually by 1972 instead of 11 billion board feet. These trends 

 and estimates in turn reflect larger needs in road and trail construc- 

 tion. The specific changes are : 



1. Increased estimates for the recreation resource management and 

 development activity to meet revised estimates of public needs. 



2. An increase in the timber resource management activity to re- 

 flect the greater harvest of 13 billion board feet annually by 1972 and 

 higher standards of timber sale administration. 



3. An increased multiple-purpose road and trail construction pro- 

 gram to provide particularly for the higher estimates of recreation 

 use and the increased timber harvest. 



4. The inclusion of a land purchase program to acquire key tracts 

 of private lands inside the National Forests to facilitate and protect 

 National Forest resource use, particularly of key recreation areas. 



5. Research has not been included in this program. It is planned 

 to submit a complete program on research at an early date. 



6. Revision of all other cost estimates for 1958 to 1961 operating 

 and development cost elements. 



This development program includes all the renewable resources 

 of the National Forest System — water, timber, recreation, forage, and 

 wildlife habitat. It includes both long-term proposals to the year 

 2000 and specific proposals for the next 10 years. The program pro- 

 vides for the continued, orderly use and development of the renew- 

 able resources of the National Forests and National Grasslands in 

 accordance with the basic conservation principles under the "Multiple 

 Use-Sustained Yield Act of June 12, 1960" and other laws. The ac- 

 complishments under this program over the next 10 years will largely 

 determine whether these vastly important public lands will con- 

 tribute by the year 2000 their fair share to a greatly expanded 

 national economy. The program will be carried out as rapidly as pos- 

 sible within the overall budgetary requirements and financial re- 

 sources of the Federal Government. 



