Figure 4: Regional and National Extension Forestry Capability. 
300 
HMB Southern Region 
4 U.S. Total 
200 ° 
Full Time Equivalents (FTE's) 
1975 1980 
1985 
Source: USDA Extension Service. Data for 1975 for the United States are not available. 
unlikely that they can replace public efforts. Only the 
consulting community appears to be steadily grow- 
ing. Furthermore, the private sector is not likely to 
address environmental or other nonmarket re- 
search issues. 
A broadly distributed and publicly supported 
system of research, extension, and technology 
transfer, based on a Federal-State partnership, has 
been critical in responding to national, State, and 
regional needs. The private sector has contributed 
on amore sporadic basis. Over the past 5 years the 
Federal role has declined in every category except 
extension. Furthermore, the South appears to have 
borne a disproportionate share of the national de- 
cline. This situation has weakened the fabric of the 
national and regional systems and placed more re- 
sponsibility on the States. Many interests are en- 
couraging more merging of human and financial 
resources from State origins to address regional 
needs, a role that will be increasingly difficult as 
individual States view their investments as a means 
of achieving a competitive advantage over one an- 
42 
other. There is a critical need to restore the strategic 
Federal role in national and regional needs through 
targeted, cost-effective programs. The South also 
needs to develop coordinated efforts to ensure an 
appropriate share of any Federal appropriations for 
research, education, and technology transfer. 
No technology can be exploited without under- 
standing. Every regional baccalaureate degree pro- 
gram in forestry is now professionally accredited, 
and several institutions have added both traditional 
and innovative graduate degree programs since the 
third forest report. These programs have provided 
an adequate number of professionals in most spe- 
cialties and have helped provide much of the justifi- 
cation for university research. But undergraduate 
enrollments in forestry have declined by more than 
one-third in the past decade. This shift will soon 
result in a dramatic decline in numbers of graduate 
students from undergraduate professional forestry 
and wood science programs. Graduate students 
contribute a great deal to university research efforts 
and, upon graduation, provide the talent for all pro- 
