NORTH CAROLINA FOREST RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES 



Permanent Forests for North Carolina 



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TO MAINTAIN and build up the forest values 

 now on hand in North Carolina and to take advan- 

 tage of opportunities for increasing the contribution 

 of the forest to the social and economic structure of the 

 State and Nation, it is necessary to revise present methods 

 of handling this important resource. Responsibility rests 

 jointly upon the Federal Government, local and State 

 governing bodies as representatives of the public; and 

 on the private landowners and forest industries. All 

 ! have an interest in, and all will benefit from, ample and 

 widely used forests. A comprehensive, intergrated 

 program of action in which all these agencies participate 

 can attain and support a high level of forest productivity. 



Public Regulation 



After more than 200 years of heavy cutting, 3 acres out 

 of 4 in the forests of North Carolina are not satisfactorily 

 stocked with trees. Current growth is only about half of 

 what it reasonably could be. Public regulation ot cut- 

 ting practices is deemed necessary to stop further de- 

 struction and deterioration ot growing stock and to help 

 sustain forest industries and dependent communities. 



Regulation should be an advantage to private forest 

 owners and operators. For the timberland owner prac- 

 ticing forestry it will tend to maintain markets for 

 stumpage bv encouraging stable local torest industries. 

 For the operator it will tend to assure a permanent supply 

 of good-quality sawlogs and other forest products. It 

 should protect both from some of the bad effects of 

 irresponsible one-cut owners and operators. 



Regulation of forest practices will serve to safeguard 

 the investment of the State and Federal Governments 

 in fire protection and other cooperative activities. It 

 should forestall the social and economic maladjustments 

 generally associated with forest liquidation and frequently 

 involving higher taxes, unemployment, and lowered 

 standards of living. 



Public regulation of forest practices should require 

 reasonable measures for the prevention and control of 

 fire, precautions against injurious insects and disease, 



and methods of cutting which will not impair forest 

 productivity. To this end not only will it be essential 

 to provide for adequate restocking with trees of desirable 

 species and to prevent avoidable damage to uncut trees 

 and young growth during logging, but also it will "generally 

 be necessary to restrict clear cutting, to protect young 

 stands from premature or wasteful cutting by limiting 

 cutting in such stands to salvage, thinning, or other 

 stand-improvement practices, and where feasible to 

 reserve a sufficient growing stock of thrifty trees of desir- 

 able species to keep the land reasonably productive. 



The productivity of North Carolina's forest is a matter 

 of national concern. Other States look to her for part 

 of their lumber supply, and her economic welfare is an 

 inseparable part ot national prosperity. Accordingly, 

 regulation of forest practices in North Carolina should 

 be developed as an integral part ot a Nation-wide forest 

 policy. The Forest Service belives that the public interest 

 requires, as a minimum, a large measure of Federal 

 participation and strong Federal leadership in such 

 forest regulation. 



Private Action 



Private landowners and the forest industries have a 

 direct interest and responsibility in the prevention and 

 control of forest fires and in the application ot improved 

 forest-management and timber-utilization practices on 

 their own land. A large part ot these improved practices 

 should result from their own initiative, and the remainder 

 trom cooperation in public programs. 



County Action 



Because every county in the State is more than one- 

 third forested and a majority are more than a halt, the 

 policy-forming officials in each county should adopt a con- 

 structive attitude toward the forest resources and related 

 industries. In too many cases the timberland is regarded 

 merely as a source ot taxes; the possibility ot greater devel- 

 opment to insure more local employment, to stabilize rural 



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