dedicated as State forests. However, if the States 
will not assume the responsibility of managing the 
tax-forfeited forest lands the counties will be faced 
with the job. Any county funds available will be 
needed more for protecting and managing present 
and prospective tax-forfeited lands than for pur- 
chase of additional forest land. 
For the same reasons no broad program of forest 
acquisition is recommended for municipalities. 
Public Regulation of Forest-Land Use 
The necessity for public regulation of forest- 
land use results from the failure of private initiative 
to check the abuses that follow unrestricted ex- 
ploitation. For lands that remain hereafter in 
private ownership there must be some regulation of 
methods of cutting and fire protection that will 
protect the public interest. 
Methods of Cutting 
Methods of cutting should be employed that 
provide for prompt and certain reforestation of cut- 
over lands. This involves following the silvi- 
cultural practices embodied in the rules adopted 
under the National Recovery Act and later revised 
and presented in the Forest Practice Handbook 
(71). Adherence of forest owners to the principles 
embodied in these rules should be made obliga- 
tory, as an initial step. 
The choice of method should be determined by 
the physical characteristics of the area and the 
age, composition, and condition of the stand. In 
some instances selective cutting would be chosen 
in others clear cutting. 
In selective cutting, a stand of positive value 
should be reserved. 
Areas clear cut in any 1 year should be limited to 
such size that they can be reseeded by adjoining 
timber. The potential source of reseeding, whether 
it be a strip left along creek, ridge, highway, or 
property line or a body of timber awaiting cutting, 
should be at least 300 feet wide and should be left 
standing until the cut-over area has restocked. 
Slash Disposal 
Better slash disposal on clear-cut areas is needed, 
Approved methods (7/) should if necessary be re- 
quired by legislation. 
139 
The fire hazard must be controlled on areas 
logged selectively. Studies are now under way to 
determine suitable methods of abating the hazard 
from slashings; the results should be put into prac- 
tice as soon as available. 
Sustained Yield 
The ultimate solution of the forest problem in this 
region is institution of sustained-yield forest man- 
agement on all commercial forest land regardless of 
ownership. It is highly desirable that sustained- 
yield plans for all the forest areas be formulated at 
once, because of the possible effect on cutting of 
public timber, mergers of private properties, estab- 
lishment of new industrial plants, State legislative 
action, construction of public improvements, etc. 
Restriction of Cutting 
All timber on public forest lands, Federal, State, 
or county, now reserved or to be reserved exclu- 
sively for intensive recreational use should be omit- 
ted from sustained-yield calculations and reserved 
from cutting except for salvage. A comprehensive 
study of forest-recreation needs is now being con- 
ducted by the Forest Service and is expected to 
indicate future needs for recreation. 
Except for thinnings, no second-growth timber in 
public. ownership should be cut and no privately 
owned second growth that is part of a sustained- 
yield unit should be cut so long as available old- 
growth timber may be supplied at costs reasonably 
comparable to costs of operating the second growth. 
Integration of any measures taken for (1) stabili- 
zation of forest-land ownership, (2) public acquisi- 
tion of forest land, and (3) enactment of regulatory 
legislation would assist in the consummation of the 
sustained-yield plans. 
Forest Protection 
With an enlarging acreage of cut-over land and a 
growing use of the forests by the public for recrea- 
tion, the Douglas-fir region is facing an increasingly 
Particu- 
larly outside the national forests, efforts must be 
difficult problem of forest-fire protection. 
redoubled to keep losses within reasonable bounds. 
The fire codes of both States are very specific and 
