entirely from public funds. The cost of fire preven- 

 tion in Pennsylvania is assumed by the State, with 

 financial cooperation from the Federal Government; 

 and the expansion of prevention facilities, such as the 

 building of new lookout towers and access roads and 

 trails, is largely a public responsibility. 



Planting programs also will need some measure of 

 subsidy. Provision of planting stock at a nominal 

 cost to farmers has already proved of value and should 

 be continued. Recently enacted State legislation may 

 enable Pennsylvania to extend this service to other 

 owners; but the Federal aid that has been given under 

 the Clarke-McNary and Cooperative Farm Forestry 

 Acts could be given to such an extended service only 

 upon the enactment of new legislation or the amend- 

 ment of the existing laws. State and Federal aid 

 might justifiably be given also in the planting of town 

 and school forests. The high costs and long-deferred 

 returns will make scrub oak conversion a prohibitive 

 undertaking without some public aid. 



Some private owners should share the financial 

 responsibility. The coal companies could assume at 

 least part of the cost of planting mine waste banks and 

 strippings. The railroads, which would be the chief 

 beneficiaries of a stabilization program for the Lehigh 

 Gorge and similar areas, might contribute substan- 

 tially to such projects. 



Some activities will pay their own way. Practically 

 all of the wood obtained in timber-stand improve- 

 ment, for example, can be used in the mines as props 

 and lagging. It is estimated that from a quarter to a 

 half of the requirements of the mines could be sup- 

 plied from this source. The cost of improving the 

 State game lands does not come out of general taxa- 

 tion but is defrayed for the most part by license fees 

 paid by hunters and fishermen. 



Employment Required 



The Anthracite Forest Region has been finding it 

 increasingly difficult to absorb ;ill its employables 

 since the war. If this should become serious, the State 



and Federal Governments could help by underwriting 

 an extensive program of forest rehabilitation. 



The department of forests and waters has already 

 outlined a postwar program of work on State forests. 

 The projects include: Timber-stand improvement; 

 seed collection; tree planting; ribes eradication to 

 reduce white pine blister rust; stream improvement; 

 the building and maintenance of roads and trails; 

 safety-strip burning; the maintenance of fire towers; 

 the construction and maintenance of telephone lines; 

 the construction and maintenance of dams, bridges, 

 camping grounds, buildings, and fireplaces in recrea- 

 tional areas; surveys; and boundary marking. 



Detailed plans should be drawn up for privately 

 owned lands as soon as possible. Rough estimates 

 have been made for work on private lands, on the 

 assumption that some 40 percent of this land is in the 

 hands of owners who would collaborate in such a 

 program. Neither gypsy moth extermination nor 

 landslide-stabilization projects have been included. 

 The estimates total about 25,000 man-years of work. 

 which probably should be spread over a 5-year period. 



Project: Man-days 



Timber-stand improvement 2, 660, 000 



Reforestation 400, 000 



Surveys, experiment, etc 4, 300 



Disease eradication 199, 000 



Fire prevention 136, 900 



Road and trail construction 2, 016, 600 



Dams and bridges 246, 500 



Buildings, signs, etc 160, 100 



Springs, streams, ponds, etc 110, 



Wildlife protection B 000 



Recreational developments 113, 



Leveling strippings 12 ; 



Miscellaneous 



Total 



The game commission has also prepared .1 postwar 



program tor the game lands. ["his includes con- 

 struction ol access roads, establishment of refuges, 



planting of open areas, and Stand improvement de- 

 signed to increase the proportion oi trees .\n<.\ shrubs 

 fa\ orable to game. 



A LONG-RANGE PROGRAM 



Full) productive forests and maximum Forest con- 

 tributions to the cconoim of (he region can be 

 attained only through improved management of the 



forest resource. Efforts toward this goal would be 



facilitated In the Following programs. 



Extending Public Aid 



Financial . Issistance 



Low-interest credit nu\ in some instances 

 For a program of forest improvemen v 



The Anthracite Forest Region A Problem Area 



I 



