Statement of Purpose for the Conference 
John M. Bowen (1) 
Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here at 
a Critical time in the history of forestry in the South. 
In recent decades it has been a history of great 
success. There have been large and continuing in- 
creases in timber growth and inventories. Timber is 
now the most important agricultural crop in the 
South. The forest industries lead all other manufac- 
turing industries in number of employees and in 
wages and salaries paid to workers. 
But there are changes of great significance un- 
derway. The most recent surveys of our forest re- 
sources show that net annual timber growth has 
(1) John M. Bowen is past president, Forest Farmers Asso- 
ciation, Atlanta, GA. 
begun to decline. It seems clear that unless we take 
action to sustain increases in timber growth and 
inventories, we will be facing a future in which the 
economic importance of the forestry sector will de- 
crease, to the detriment of forest owners, forest 
workers, and in the end to our entire society. 
So, we're going to work here today and tomor- 
row to consider ways of continuing the great prog- 
ress that has been made in the past. Our program 
this afternoon is directed toward establishing a 
broad understanding of the present and prospec- 
tive forest situation; the implications for forest own- 
ers, forest industries, State and local governments, 
and the economy of the South; and the 
opportunities to increase forest productivity in eco- 
nomically acceptable ways to sustain continued 
growth in our forestry sector. 
