Economic Opportunities on State and Private Lands 
Leonard A. Kilian, Jr. (1) 
"The South's Fourth Forest" paints an uncertain 
picture of our future. Annual timber growth is now 
falling short of removals, and unless something is 
done, this trend will continue. Are we to accept the 
chance of a future of declining timber supplies or at 
least reduced growth and suffer the economic con- 
sequences? Are we willing to allow our timber re- 
sources to be continually harvested without ade- 
quate regeneration? Are we satisfied with a future of 
higher stumpage prices and erosion of our position 
of advantage here in the South? We must not be 
complacent: the current outlook does not have to 
become a conclusion. Rather, we must take action 
now to form the South's next forest in the strong 
image we want. We must increase our timber pro- 
ductivity and protect our resources in order to sus- 
tain our position in the forefront as a supplier of 
wood. But how? 
“The South's Fourth Forest" offers us many op- 
portunities to change the forestry scenario to one 
that not only preserves economic activity but even 
helps our region to grow in national and world im- 
portance. Let me outline a few views and a few 
actions that can change the outlook. My emphasis 
is on State and nonindustrial lands throughout the 
South. 
What Are the Opportunities To Enhance 
Forest Production? 
Many opportunities exist on timberlands and 
croplands to augment forest productivity on State 
and private lands, according to chapter 5 of "The 
South's Fourth Forest." As defined in the study, op- 
portunities to earn a 4-percent return on additional 
timber investments exist on an estimated 53 million 
acres of nonindustrial private forest land or other 
public timberland in the 12-State region. These 
4-percent return treatments would cost more than 
$5 billion but would produce an added 2.5 billion 
cubic feet of timber annually. This is 75 percent of 
(1) Leonard A. Kilian, Jr., is State Forester for South Car- 
olina. 
the treatment opportunities on all ownerships. Near- 
ly 26 million acres have treatment needs that can 
produce returns of at least 10 percent. The cost for 
the 10-percent treatments is $2.1 billion. These 
10-percent treatments could increase timber sup- 
plies by almost 1.3 billion Cubic feet annually. Al- 
though we might quibble about some acres here or 
there, the story is that there are very many acres that 
could be managed to produce more timber and a 
handsome profit as well. | would like to paint the 
larger picture of economic opportunities on State 
and private lands in the South. 
Nonindustrial private forest landowners control 
67 percent of the timberland in the South. Their 
lands, more than 121 million acres, offer the great- 
est opportunities for increasing timber supplies in 
the region, by far. According to the report, timber 
productivity can be increased by at least 50 percent 
on these lands by making investments that would 
return at least 4 percent above inflation. 
The greatest opportunities are in reforestation 
of nonstocked or poorly stocked stands. In the 
South, there are 24 million acres of nonindustrial 
private land that need reforestation. While these ar- 
eas comprise only 47 percent of the economic treat- 
ments on nonindustrial private ownerships, manag- 
ing these acres better could increase timber growth 
by 1.1 billion Cubic feet each year. (By the way, a 
billion cubic feet of timber is enough wood to lay 2 
x 4's around the earth at the equator more than 80 
times.) Although the average cost of these treat- 
ments is $131 per acre, average productivity would 
go up by 48 cubic feet per acre each year if all acres 
were treated. The cost to boost yields by a cubic 
foot annually from these treatments is $2.75. 
Opportunities to harvest and regenerate over- 
mature stands, salvage and regenerate damaged 
stands, and convert stands to preferred species 
where needed exist on 12 million acres in nonindus- 
trial private ownership. These opportunities, if tak- 
en, can produce 613 million cubic feet of additional 
wood annually for a cost of $1.2 billion. The cost of 
an additional cubic foot of wood annually from these 
options is about $2.00. 
Intermediate treatments such as precommer- 
cial thinning, timber-stand improvement, and com- 
mercial thinning of overstocked stands offer a third 
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