SOUTH CAROLINA FOREST RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES 



Measures For Increasing Forest Production 



THE forest is one of the few natural resources 

 that can be managed so that it will meet antic- 

 ipated future demands and furnish a steady 

 supply of timber and related products indefinitely. 

 The development and, in fact, the very life of wood- 

 using industries and allied communities depend upon 

 control of the forest growing stock. They cannot 

 survive if the annual drain constantly exceeds the 

 annual growth. Since the welfare of South Caro- 

 lina will be advanced by permanent forest industries 

 and stable forest employment, accumulation and 

 maintenance of ample growing stock is a matter of 

 State and Federal as well as private interest. 



As yet, relatively little control of forest growth has 

 been attempted. Many wood-using industries gage 

 their output by the volume of accessible timber 

 available in size, quality,. and quantity for present 

 needs, without much thought of replenishment by 

 growth. In some localities overcutting is so ex- 

 hausting accessible stands that the dependent plants 

 will either have to limit their operations materially 

 or shut down within a few years, involving a serious 

 curtailment of South Carolina's wood production 

 and of woods and mill employment. This condition 

 is found in a number of localities in all three survey 

 units, although our data do not show how severe 

 overcutting is locally. Woodlands on many farms 

 have also been' overcut and their value lowered and 

 reproduction delayed for a long time. 



Building up Growth Capacity 



The growth capacity of the forest can be built up 

 to provide for future needs by extending the produc- 

 tive forest area and increasing fire protection. This 

 is the goal of the State forestry agencies; it governs 

 the administration of the small area of national 

 forest in South Carolina, and should be the objective 

 of all private woodland owners. A few commercial 

 concerns dependent upon wood have adjusted, or 

 are attempting to adjust, their output to the forest 

 growth within their procurement zones, and some 

 farmers are managing their woodlands so as to de- 



rive permanent future supplies of better products. 

 Such instances are exceptional, however. The 

 State-wide goal of full forest productivity is far from 

 attainment. There is no question as to its value in 

 the State economy from the standpoint of permanent 

 employment in woods and mill, maintenance of man- 

 ufacturing output and watershed protection, but at- 

 tainment is constantly hindered by the uncertainties 

 of taxation, the large amount of capital required, and 

 the tenacity of fixed ideas not in keeping with perma- 

 nent forest management. 



Perhaps these impediments can never be entirely 

 overcome, but the measures necessary to derive the 

 maximum benefits from the forest form a program 

 worthy of unremitting effort. They include build- 

 ing up the growing stock: improving timber utiliza- 

 tion and marketing; controlling fire, insects, and 

 disease; solving complicated financial problems 

 which may involve the advancement of public credit 

 to timberland owners; devising more equitable taxa- 

 tion methods; extending public forest ownership; in- 

 stituting public control of cutting practices on pri- 

 vate land; and planting nonproductive farm land to 

 forest. 



The Main Objective 



Adequate growing stock is the first requirement 

 for satisfactory forest production. The mainte- 

 nance of ample stocks of growing timber assures not 

 only the permanence of wood-product manufacture, 

 but prosperous and taxable industries, continuous 

 employment of a large number of people in woods 

 and mills, and other benefits such as watershed pro- 

 tection and adequate hunting and other facilities for 

 recreation. 



The supply of forest products in South Carolina 

 can be vastly increased, possibly doubled. This 

 may be accomplished by accelerating growth and by 

 restricting the cut to mature and overmature trees 

 ai?d to younger ones which are unthrifty and slow- 

 growing; by leaving well-formed and rapidly grow- 

 ing younger trees for future cutting, even though 



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