Figure 1. Forest and Forest Products Research Capability in the Southern U.S., 
GS-11 or equivalent. 
250 
Forest Service 
200 - 
150" 
Scientist Years (SY's) 
100° 
dashed line denotes estimates 
50° 
1974 1976 1978 1980 
~~ 
= 
~ 
1982 1984 1986 1988 
Sources: USDA Forest Service, Cooperative State Research Service, Southern Industrial Forest 
Research Council. 
The Forest Service total includes 25 percent of the SY's at the Forest Products Laboratory, 
the estimated proportion devoted to southern tree species. 
A similar pattern of decline is seen in annual 
expenditures for southern forest research (fig. 2). 
The cost of employing and supporting a scientist 
has risen for all fields of science. Only the university 
sector has been able to partially respond in terms of 
current dollars. However, when adjusted for infla- 
tion, all sectors, including universities, show a de- 
clining trend. It is important to note, however, that 
some universities and industrial firms are providing 
sustaining support for their scientists. There is also 
evidence that the South is absorbing a slightly dis- 
proportionate share of the Federal reduction in re- 
search (fig. 3). Within the universities, both under- 
graduate and graduate education are being 
adversely affected by this general reduction be- 
cause of shared faculty appointments between 
teaching and research, and deteriorating laboratory 
equipment. 
An encouraging trend since the "The South's 
Third Forest" is the increase in Cooperative Exten- 
sion Service personnel (fig. 4). The 90-percent in- 
crease in 10 years can be attributed principally to 
the Renewable Resources Extension Act of 1978. 
Although the Federal funds provided through this 
Act for forestry have been modest, they have served 
to encourage further investment by the individual 
States. But once again, the data indicate that the 
South has lagged behind the rest of the country in 
increasing its extension capabilities and is far short 
of meeting regional needs. 
We see indications that the private sector is 
playing an increasingly active role in the transfer of 
technology. Figure 5 indicates that forestry consult- 
ants are now the largest facilitators of technology 
transfer in the South. State agencies grew by 73 
percent over the decade, but the Federal role was 
reduced by 66 percent. 
39 
