per $100), farmer status (-0.14 percent), and age 
(-0.6 percent per year). Plans to sell the land had a 
negative effect on the probability of reforestation 
(-21 percent), and pulpwood prices a slight positive 
effect (+1.3 percent). 
The State foresters and the Forest Service's 
State and Private Forestry branch also cooperate in 
providing advice to loggers and sawmillers regard- 
ing harvesting, sawmilling, lumber drying, sec- 
ondary processing, wood energy, and market and 
industrial development--called the Forest Product 
Utilization programs. Harvesting and marketing pro- 
grams are available to landowners. In an evaluation 
of the Sawmill Improvement Program, Risbrudt and 
Kaiser (1982) found excellent returns to sawmillers 
and social returns to the program. The Forest Serv- 
ice and some States also offer urban forestry pro- 
grams, which were authorized federally in 1972. 
These programs emphasize combating insect and 
disease outbreaks and utilizing wood that would 
otherwise be lost due to pests and land clearing. 
Soil Conservation Service (SCS) employees al- 
so provide limited on-the-ground technical assis- 
tance to forest landowners when making SCS farm 
plans. In heavily forested counties and States, 
county conservationists provide considerable ad- 
vice on multiple-use management and farm and for- 
est conservation practices. They often coordinate 
their farm plans with recommendations from State 
foresters or extension service personnel. 
Private Forestry Assistance 
In addition to public programs, technical 
forestry assistance is also now offered by many 
private consultants and forest-products firms. Con- 
sulting forestry services available to private 
landowners have increased greatly in the last 20 
years. Currently, it is estimated that there are over 
1,900 consulting foresters in the United States. 
Georgia has the largest concentration, with over 
100 known consultants (Field and Holt 1984 un- 
publ.). In addition, many forest industries have be- 
gun formal management assistance or landowner 
assistance programs in areas around their mills. 
They also lease a large amount of forest land in the 
South. 
industry Assistance--A number of surveys have 
been performed to estimate the extent of private 
forestry assistance to nonindustrial private forest 
landowners, although none have published an eco- 
66 
nomic evaluation per se. Studies were begun at the 
Southern Forest Experiment Station (Pleasonton 
1968, 1969; Siegel 1973; Siegel and Guttenberg 
1968) and have been continued by others until the 
present. 
Leasing programs began in the 1940's and 
1950's. In these programs, industry leases land from 
private, nonindustrial owners and generally man- 
ages it as if it were their own. The acreage under 
lease in the South seemed to peak at about 6.7 
million acres (Siegel 1973) in 1970. Current surveys 
indicate that this figure has declined to about 4.66 
million acres in 1982 (Meyer 1984, Meyer and Klem- 
perer 1984). Average tract size under lease was 
2,078 acres. 
Industrial forest management assistance pro- 
grams also provide private forest landowners with 
forest regeneration, timber-stand improvement, and 
harvesting assistance, in addition to leasing pro- 
grams. Land-management practices may be per- 
formed at cost for private landowners. Programs 
generally require that treated tracts be of aminimum 
size and within a maximum distance from the mill, 
and some require first refusal rights--the right to 
meet or exceed any other firm's bid--when partici- 
pating landowners sell timber (Cleaves and 
O'Laughlin 1983, O'Laughlin and others 1983, Cub- 
bage and Skinner 1985). Land enrolled in formal 
industrial management assistance programs has in- 
creased steadily. In 1984, Meyer and Klemperer 
found that total enrollment included 4,214,000 acres 
in the South, with the largest programs being in the 
west gulf. Average tract size was 484 acres. 
Consulting Foresters--Private consulting foresters 
are located throughout the South and provide a 
wide array of services. Most consultants provide 
complete forest management services, including 
performing timber inventories and appraisals, 
preparing management plans, administering timber 
sales, and providing for regeneration. Several con- 
sultants also assist landowners in planning and 
managing for wildlife or other nontimber goods, 
constructing and maintaining firelanes, and manag- 
ing Christmas tree plantations. Additionally numer- 
ous consultants prescribe timber-stand 
improvement and site preparation for their clients’ 
tracts. Due to the large expense of maintaining work 
crews for sporadic silvicultural work, many consult- 
ants contract such work with private forestry ven- 
dors. Normally, these vendors concentrate on pro- 
viding silvicultural treatment rather than long-term 
