Opportunities To Enhance Southern Forest Productivity Through 
Research, Education, and Technology Transfer 
J. Charles Lee (1) 
Introduction 
The great progress made in forestry during the 
past 20 years must be attributed in part to the re- 
search and action programs of Federal, State, and 
industry or industry-related forestry organizations. 
When the 1969 Southern Forest Resource Analysis 
Committee published "The South's Third Forest," 
evaluating the region's timber resource, it made sev- 
eral recommendations. It recognized that the devel- 
opment of technology, its dissemination, and the 
human factors involved in the transfer would be 
critical to achieving the goals that the Committee 
set. There has been significant progress since the 
"third forest" report was issued. | have been asked 
to reflect on what has been accomplished and to 
outline some opportunities for the “fourth forest." 
Since the third forest report, publicly supported 
programs have grown and are much better 
equipped to accomplish their missions. The private 
sector responded by increasing its historical partici- 
pation in technology transfer and by expanding its 
commitment to educational activities. Several indus- 
trial firms established research organizations and 
technical service divisions to accelerate technologi- 
cal innovation and adoption of new machinery and 
methods. The addition of new participants in these 
functions led to the need for better coordination and 
interaction to achieve maximum results with the lim- 
ited resources available. Even at the highest level of 
overall effort, forestry lagged behind major agricul- 
tural Commodities in public investments in research, 
education, and technology transfer across the re- 
gion. This imbalance persists, in spite of an 
increasing body of evidence that confirms a very 
favorable rate of return for public and private invest- 
ments. 
However, the emergence of several organiza- 
tions in the past decade has served to bring more 
focus to regional needs, to enhance collaboration, 
and to advocate increased support for public and 
(1) Charles Lee is head of the Department of Forest Science, 
Texas A. & M. University, College Station, TX. 
private programs. | am much encouraged by the 
activities of the Forest Industry Training and Educa- 
tion Council and the Southern Industrial Forestry 
Research Council. In the public sector, the National 
Association of Professional Forestry Schools and 
Colleges, the National Association of State 
Foresters, the USDA Forest Service, and the Re- 
gional Extension Forestry Office are increasing their 
cooperative efforts with each other and with other 
organizations, including the Association of Consult- 
ing Foresters and the American Forest Council. 
Through such developments, forestry continues to 
be of primary importance in the economy of the 
South. 
The scope, vitality, and value of the fourth forest 
will be even more dependent on contributions from 
research, education, and technology transfer. Is our 
present level of research and our information deliv- 
ery system capable of addressing the critical needs 
of the next generation of forests? Will we be able to 
ensure a competitive forest economy within a sus- 
tainable environment? There is no shortage of 
emerging technologies which can be further devel- 
oped to enhance forest and forest-products pro- 
ductivity, but recent trends in the capability of re- 
search and information delivery systems deserve 
serious examination in any discussion of forest pol- 
icy alternatives. 
Achievements in Research and 
Education Since the "Third Forest" 
Report 
First let's reflect on what has been accom- 
plished. Some specific subject areas in which we 
can see benefits derived directly from research and 
education are: 
Tree improvement 
Nursery production 
Forest nutrition 
Vegetation management 
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