normally the responsibility 

 of the lessor. 



In another form of lease, 

 the lessee pays all 

 management costs over 

 the years, and these are 

 deducted from stumpage 

 values paid to the lessor as 

 timber is harvested. An 

 additional feature 

 sometimes found in this 

 type of lease is a modest 

 annual payment to the 

 lessor, which is also 

 recaptured out of stumpage 

 values at removal. 



Long-term leases require a 

 great deal of wisdom in 

 both parties, including 

 knowing what effect inflation 

 and deflation will have over 

 the period of the lease, 

 what "merchantable" means 

 now and in the future, and 

 other factors very difficult to 

 anticipate and define. As a 

 result of these problems, 

 as in most long-term 

 contracts, a relationship 

 started on the best of terms 

 and mutually satisfactory to 

 both parties frequently 

 turns sour to one or both 

 parties, resulting in 

 unpleasant situations and 

 lawsuits. Substantial 

 numbers of the industry 

 avoid leases, viewing them 

 as employment acts for trial 

 lawyers and consulting 

 foresters who are used as 

 expert witnesses. 



Trends in 



Planting-Plantation 

 management, a vital part of 

 timber management, elicits 

 from some 



environmentalists and 

 wildlife managers cries of 

 "biological deserts" and 

 worse. Yet years of research 

 have disclosed satisfactory 

 regimens of burning and 

 thinning that enhance 

 wildlife habitat if properly 

 administered. The industry 

 is proceeding with a 

 systematic program of 

 planting that has almost 

 achieved 100-percent use 

 of genetically improved 

 seedlings. These seedlings 

 have been developed for 

 individual characteristics 

 such as specific gravity, 

 straightness, resistance to 

 fusiform rust, and other 

 specialized requirements. 



For many years, the media 

 have reported favorably on 

 the industry's genetics 

 programs while decrying 

 unsightly clearcutting and 

 site-preparation activities. 

 Only since the industry 

 turned to less destructive 

 site-preparation techniques 

 and the media recognized 

 the necessity of clearcutting 

 and site preparation to 

 utilize the benefits of genetic 

 improvement has 

 large-scale planting met 

 with reasonable public 

 acceptance. 



17 



