Estimated Condition of Privately Owned Commercial Forest Lands in Continental 



United States in 1938 



Item 



Acres 



Percent 



Under intensive and extensive management (sustained vield) 1 



Under extensive management 2 (not sustained vield) _ .. 



22,795,000 

 47,212,000 



6.7 

 13.8 







Total under management 



70,007,000 



212,726,000 



58,176,000 



20.5 



Additional lands in at least partially productive condition 3 



Lands not in productive condition. „ _ .... 



62.4 

 17.1 







Total privatelv owned commercial forest lands 



340,909,000 



100.0 







1 The terra, as used in this table, means that the land is being so man- 

 aged as to at least maintain production in sufficient quantity for com- 

 mercial operation. 



2 Extensive management includes a satisfactory degree of fire protec- 



tion and such cutting practices as are necessary to keep the land produc- 

 tive although production cannot be maintained at its current rate. 



3 Includes lands bearing stands either now or potentially valuable 

 without special effort on the part of the owner other than fire protection. 



Of the nearly 213 million acres indicated as at 

 least partially productive, probably about two- 

 thirds has fire protection, but is not under man- 

 agement. As yet there is no assurance that it 

 will be placed under management and it should 

 be noted that only 20.5 percent is under any 

 form of management — varying from very good 

 to mediocre. 



Special recognition is due the owners of this 

 20 percent, who have largely during the past 

 decade or two changed from a practice of forest 

 liquidation to forest management and who in 

 spite of many serious handicaps have pioneered 

 in timber growing. But tbere is still a long way 

 to go. There are 107 million acres of commer- 

 cial forest lands needing but still without fire 

 protection. Fifty-eight million acres (37 in 

 nonfarm ownership) are poorly stocked or not 

 stocked at all. 



On millions of acres now bearing cordwood 

 or second-growth stands the forests must be re- 

 habilitated — the growing stock built up and the 

 composition improved. And in the last analysis 

 sustained-yield is the critical test of good forest 

 management. It alone assures continuity of out- 

 put, continuity of employment, and stable sup- 

 port for dependent communities and for forest 

 regions. The problem confronting us as a na- 

 tion is that of completing the change (already 

 begun) from a philosophy and practice of liqui- 

 dation to that of sustained production under 

 management. The forest land owners and oper- 

 ators have the ability and resourcefulness to play 

 a large part in this, and if the examples shown in 

 this bulletin expedite this change they will have 

 served their purpose. 



