Forest Management of Industrial Lands 



The Development of the 

 Forest Industry In the 

 South 



Forest industry in the South 

 began with handsawn 

 lumber, pit saws, and 

 water-powered mills. The 

 use of wood for home 

 heating, the development 

 of spar timbers for ships' 

 masts, and early turpentine 

 activities must be 

 considered the forerunners 

 of the industry. However, 

 any study of the timber 

 industry must date its 

 inception to the appearance 

 of large sawmills with their 

 lumbering camps and 

 logging railroads. 



In the early years, nobody 

 thought much about 

 regenerating the forests. 

 Most mills followed a 

 "clearcut-and-get-out" 

 philosophy and method of 

 operation. 



It might be surprising to 

 today's industrial 

 foresters-whose chief 

 association, the National 

 Forest Products 

 Association, strongly 

 believes the private 

 landowner is well suited to 

 manage his timberlands 

 with minimum government 



regulation-that it was not 

 always thus. In Chicago on 

 July 10, 1920, the directors 

 of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers Association 

 (predecessor of the National 

 Forest Products 

 Association) adopted the 

 following resolutions: 



Growing timber crops 

 must be largely, though 

 by no means wholly, a 

 Government and State 

 function. Hence, both 

 should acquire, by 

 purchase and by 

 exchange of stumpage 

 for land, much larger 

 areas of permanent forest 

 land than they now 

 possess. Such 

 acquirement should be 

 largely cut-over land, to 

 assure proper care 

 thereof as well as 

 economy in public 

 expenditure. 



If private owners refuse 

 to either sell for such 

 purpose, or to take 

 reasonable steps 

 themselves to keep in 

 timber crops, any 

 deforested land 

 competently classified as 

 suitable chiefly for forest 

 growing and not suitable 

 for agriculture, 



