Resource Surveys and Analyses 



Another early venture of 

 the southern forest experi- 

 ment stations was a regional 

 survey of timber resources, 

 conducted under authoriza- 

 tions in the McSweeney- 

 McNary Forest Research 

 Act of 1928. The southern 

 forest survey was part of a 

 nationwide effort designed 

 to provide an inventory and 

 appraisal of both current 

 and prospective timber 

 resources and timber re- 

 quirements in the United 

 States, an essential basis 

 for evaluating the timber 

 situation and outlook. 



The forest survey represent- 

 ed, in effect, a major intensi- 

 fication of forest resource 

 analyses contained in series 

 of national publications 

 dating back to the period 

 1878-82. when Franklin B. 

 Hough issued a surprisingly 

 comprehensive '"Report 

 Upon Forestry. N This was 

 followed by other timber 

 resource reports, notably a 

 Bureau of Corporations 

 Report of 1911 and the 

 Copeland Report of 1933, 

 as well as more recent 

 timber resource studies, 

 including Timber Reviews 

 of 1952 and 1970 and 

 culminating in "An Analysis 

 of the Timber Situation in 



the United States, 

 1952-2030" (USDA Forest 

 Service 1982a). The earlier 

 resource studies contained 

 generalized and necessarily 

 limited information on timber 

 resources. The more recent 

 national reports have includ- 

 ed considerable data by 

 States and increasing detail 

 on the changing forest 

 situation. 



Some early reports on forest 

 and range resources were 

 issued in the South, as in 

 the case of the Bureau of 

 Economic and Business 

 Research in Florida, which 

 published studies dealing 

 with timber resources and 

 industries and the naval 

 stores industry in that State 

 (Campbell and McCracken 

 1932). In the 1930's and 

 1940s, the Florida Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station 

 also issued reports on 

 forest pastures and condi- 

 tions of vegetation on rural 

 lands. 



In 1931, the southern forest 

 survey staff, under the 

 leadership of G.H. Lentz, 

 followed by Inman ("Cap") 

 Eldridge, undertook the 

 major task of obtaining 

 detailed information on 

 forest areas throughout the 



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