Economic Investigations 



Closely related to surveys 

 and analyses of forest 

 resources have been a 

 number of studies of forest 

 land ownership, conducted 

 over the past several 

 decades by Forest Service 

 researchers such as LM. 

 James, A.S. Todd, A. 

 Pleasanton, and W.C. 

 Anderson; by scientists in 

 southern universities, such 

 as C.B. Marlin (1978) in 

 Louisiana; and by the 

 American Forestry Associa- 

 tion in North Carolina 

 (Pomeroy and Yoho 1964). 

 These studies have provid- 

 ed key information on such 

 matters as owner character- 

 istics, extent of landhold- 

 ings, problems encountered 

 in management of private 

 forest lands, and landowner 

 responses to forestry assis- 

 tance programs. Generally 

 these have shown a prepon- 

 derance of small forest 

 ownerships held by a wide 

 variety of owners who, for 

 various reasons, have been 

 unwilling or unable to invest 

 capital in planting or other 

 timber-growing measures 

 (e.g., Birch and others 

 1982). 



A number of studies have 

 shown, nevertheless, that 



cultural measures to pro- 

 duce southern pines could 

 be undertaken in many 

 areas at moderate costs 

 and with significant returns 

 on investments. In the 

 Southeastern United States, 

 for example, analysis sug- 

 gests that over 100 million 

 acres of forest land would 

 qualify for some manage- 

 ment treatment, with invest- 

 ment returns ranging from 

 3 to 16 percent (Dutrow 

 1978). Conversion of oak- 

 pine types to pine planta- 

 tions, for example, has 

 been identified as a principal 

 way of increasing pine 

 timber supplies on millions 

 of acres of southern forests. 

 Guides have been prepared 

 to aid investors contemplat- 

 ing such action (e.g., Ander- 

 son and Guttenberg 1971). 



In recognition of the large 

 importance of nonindustrial 

 ownersips in the timber 

 supply picture, and evi- 

 dence of promising invest- 

 ment opportunities, a num- 

 ber of public programs 

 have been adopted to assist 

 owners in improving the 

 management of their forests. 

 In addition to Federal 

 technical assistance and 

 cost sharing, several South- 



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