The Forest Survey 



Effective rehabilitation and constructive management of this country's forest resource 

 require not only protection against neglect and destruction but, with equal urgency, 

 provision for permanent and wise use of that resource. Wisdom in forest land use plan- 

 ning must rest on a long-time economy based on reliable facts as to supply and require- 

 ments for wood and other forest products, production and consumption, drain and growth, 

 and the location, area, and condition of existing and prospective forest lands. This 

 requirement for dependable and comprehensive technical information is now being trans- 

 lated into action through the provisions of the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act 

 of May 22, 1928, authorizing a Nation-wide Forest Survey. 



The Forest Survey, as constituted under that act, is obtaining essential field information 

 and, through interpretation thereof, is aiding in the formulation of guiding principles and 

 policies fundamental to a system of planned management and land use for each forest 

 region and for the Nation. 



The fivefold purpose of the Forest Survey is: (1) To make a field inventory of all 

 forest land and of the present supply of timber and other forest products thereon, (2) to 

 ascertain the rate at which this supply is being increased through growth, (3) to deter- 

 mine the rate at which it is being diminished through industrial and domestic uses, wind- 

 fall, fire, disease, and other causes, (4) to determine the present consumption and the 

 probable future trend in requirements for timber and other forest products, and (5) to 

 interpret and correlate these findings with existing and anticipated economic conditions, 

 as an aid in the formulation of both private and public policies for the most effective and 

 rational use of land suitable for forest production. 



It is planned to publish the results of this investigation as they become available. 

 These publications, which apply to large areas and should not be interpreted as portraying 

 correctly the forest situation for small sections that may differ from the average for the 

 entire unit, supply the general framework upon which to base more intensive studies. 



The investigation is conducted in the various forest regions by the forest experiment 

 stations of the Forest Service, and in the South by the Southern Forest Experiment Station, 

 with headquarters in New Orleans, La. 



