Figure 3. Regional and National Trends in USFS Scientific Capacity. 
950 
850 
1905 
650 
550 
450 
Scientist Years (SY's) 
350 
1505 
1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 
Total U.S. 
250 ° ES Tia a a aia 
1984 1986 1988 
Source: USDA Forest Service. Southern Regional total includes 25 percent of SY's at Forest 
Products Laboratory, Madison, WI. 
are essential to guide investments to the best op- 
portunities, and as a basis for enhanced funding of 
both public and private efforts. 
There is little doubt that there will be more public 
debate over how the fourth forest will be managed 
than was true for the third forest. The urbanization 
of the South and growing concerns about water 
resources and biological diversity will necessarily 
accelerate the employment of contemporary tech- 
niques for generating and analyzing scientific data, 
and for greater quality control in forest practices. 
This means that forest workers and forest managers 
will have to be sensitive to environmental effects, be 
informed, and be responsible in the deployment of 
new or existing technology. Many of these con- 
cerns, such as forest health, will require much 
greater investments in basic inquiry than have been 
made in the past. 
There is continuing need to develop better 
mechanisms for addressing regionwide issues. The 
continuing consolidation of the forest products in- 
dustry across State lines and constrained budget- 
ing in the public sector are influencing the political 
base for programs and the vitality of those pro- 
grams. Large multi-State firms are encouraging a 
shift of public resources to basic research and are 
expressing some concern that there is unnecessary 
duplication in the delivery of new information. Small- 
er firms, State organizations, and most landowners 
favor a more broad-based research effort within 
their respective States and seem to be less con- 
cerned about excessive duplication. 
There is a need to build on the joint planning 
and program development that has emerged in the 
research and extension organizations, with input 
from user interests. The Southern Commercial For- 
est Research Cooperative, which is currently ad- 
dressing forest health, is an excellent example of a 
coordinated regionwide effort. It is also important to 
be able to address critical State needs, particularly 
since the individual States provide by far the domi- 
nant share of resources for the development and 
deployment of technology. While some organiza- 
tions in the private sector have established very 
credible research programs, the cyclical and mea- 
ger funding for most of these programs makes it 
41 
