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Forest Owners Are Finding That Good Practices Pay 



PRODUCING timber as a crop, as illustrated 

 in this publication, is a comparatively recent 

 development in this country. Forty years ago 

 this was not being done by anyone either as a 

 public or private undertaking. About 1900 the 

 practice of forestry was begun nationally with 

 the establishment of national forests: at the 

 same time the States became more active in set- 

 ting up State forests. This had little or no influ- 

 ence, however, on private-forest practices at that 

 time. Private owners continued to cut their 

 timber with no thought of renewal. 



Within the last 20 years a change in attitude 

 toward forests and in the practice of treating 

 timber as a crop has come about. During the 

 last decade particularly the traditional attitudes 

 have changed, rapidly in some regions and more 

 slowlv in others. Better forest-management 

 practices have been most widely adopted by pri- 

 vate landowners where conditions have offered 

 the greatest promise of success. 



Among the most important factors influencing 

 the adoption of forestry and the degree of forest 

 management practiced by private owners are: 



(1) Conditions affecting the establishment of 

 forest stands and their rate of growth, such as 

 climatic and soil factors. 



(2) Risk of loss by fire, storm, insects, and 

 diseases. 



(3) Carrying charges, including taxes. 



(4) Markets and transportation facilities for 

 forest products. 



(5) Condition and amount of growing stock, 

 species, and sizes of timber. 



Forest land in the United States is owned by 

 many individuals, companies, and corporations 

 and for many different purposes. Sometimes it 

 is just owned without purpose. On the basis of 

 these purposes, private forest owners may be 

 divided roughly into two general groups: 



1. Owners whose main source of income is 

 timber products. The owner may have an indus- 

 trial plant, including sawmill, pulp mill, turpen- 

 tine still, etc., for processing the raw product 

 into a finished or semifinished commercial prod- 



uct. A forest owner is not necessarily, however, 

 a processor of forest products. In fact quite 

 commonly he is not. The owner may, on the 

 other hand, sell his limber as a raw product to 

 the processor as sawlogs, pulpwood, poles, piling, 

 crude gum, or what not. He may sell it on the 

 stump, leaving the cutting and transportation to 

 the buyer. There are many variations in prac- 

 tice, depending on the desires of the owner and 

 the operating customs, conditions, and limita- 

 tions in the community. 



2. Owners whose timber products are a collat- 

 eral or subsidiary source of income. The farmer 

 who owns timberlands is a member of this group. 

 His income is derived mainly from farm crops 

 including livestock, but many farms contain 

 woodland which usually consists of land unsuit- 

 able for cultivated crops or pasture. Such land 

 should, of course, be used to increase the gen- 

 eral farm income. Many different classes of 

 people other than farmers who derive their 

 incomes mainly from other sources also own 

 forest land. All are to some degree interested 

 in obtaining income from such land. Lnfortu- 

 nately many do not manage their holdings for 

 sustained income. Forest owners who are not 

 dependent on the income from such land for 

 immediate needs are in a particularly favorable 

 position to build up the productive capacity of 

 the forest and thus provide for a larger sustained 

 future income. 



The figures in the table on the following page 

 show the condition of privately owned timber- 

 lands in the United States. In all regions among 

 both groups are to be found owners who are 

 following good management practices to some 

 extent. Most of the pioneers who undertook 

 forestry measures when the uncertainties were 

 greater than they are today, are already reaping 

 the reward of their foresight. Rarely is an 

 owner found who regrets his investment of time 

 and money in permanent forest production. 

 Most such owners regret that they did not start 

 sooner at least to protect and preserve their 

 young immature timber. 



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