agement of the rural cooperative fire protection pro- 
gram, administration of the Federal Emergency 
Management Assistance Act, assistance in fire 
planning, and coordinating the Smokey Bear fire 
prevention program. Cooperative forestry includes 
assistance in forest management activities such as 
silviculture, tree planting, nursery improvement, her- 
bicide use; economic, tax, and harvesting activities; 
sawmill utilization and improvement programs; and 
management of watersheds and wildlife. Utilization, 
marketing, and export programs have been a recent 
program initiative in State and Private Forestry. 
In the 1980's, annual direct funding for State 
and Private Forestry dwindled from almost $100 mil- 
lion to about $60 million, and the Office of Manage- 
ment and Budget has repeatedly proposed reduc- 
ing State and Private Forestry or eliminating it 
entirely. State and Private Forestry does receive 
transfer funding from other Federal sources as well, 
however. This includes Resource Conservation and 
Development and emergency watershed funds; 
funds for administering the Forestry Incentives, 
Agricultural Conservation, and Conservation Re- 
serve Programs; and funds for agricultural pest 
management programs. In total these external 
transfer funds account for almost one-fifth of the 
State and Private budget. 
Extension Programs 
Extension forestry began in Michigan as an 
agricultural extension project in 1911. The Smith- 
Lever Act of 1914 created the Cooperative Exten- 
sion Service and gave it broad directives to carry out 
nationwide educational programs in agriculture and 
related areas. Extension foresters were employed 
under this act for the first time in 1918. The Clarke- 
McNary Act of 1924 augmented the legislative man- 
date for such efforts by directing the Secretary of 
Agriculture to work with the States in developing 
extension forestry efforts (Extension Committee on 
Organization and Policy 1986). 
The act has resulted in cooperative agricultural 
extension efforts between the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture and the State land-grant colleges. The 
act is funded by the Federal Government, individual 
States, and local communities, with total contribu- 
tions of about $1 billion in 1985. Recently, the Feder- 
al Government has funded about 37 percent of the 
programs, local governments 7 to 11 percent, and 
the States the balance. About 200 forestry and relat- 
68 
ed resource personnel are now employed by exten- 
sion services in the United States. 
Extension now includes a substantial forestry 
component in most States. Separate congressional 
authority for forestry extension services was grant- 
ed under the Renewable Resource Extension (RRE) 
Act of 1978 to address educational needs in manag- 
ing renewable natural resources. To date, very little 
additional RRE money has been appropriated. An- 
nual forest management and utilization extension 
funds have usually amounted to about $4 million, 
and natural resources as a whole to about $15 mil- 
lion. 
State extension foresters provide information 
and education for private landowners, loggers, and 
forest-products firms, primarily by holding work- 
shops, meetings, tours, and forestry demonstra- 
tions; by publishing forestry bulletins; and by utiliz- 
ing the mass media. They also work closely with 
county extension agents in conducting local 
forestry education programs. In addition to public 
education, extension personnel have taken a lead- 
ing role in disseminating research findings to public 
and private foresters, as well as informing re- 
searchers of the concerns of forestry professionals 
and the public. 
The extension forestry mission includes several 
components. Extension forestry programs are de- 
signed to provide a problem-oriented education, by 
improving forest management, utilization, and multi- 
ple use; increasing the productivity of forests and 
the efficiency of soil logging and wood-processing 
industries; and protecting and enhancing the soil, 
air, water, and amenity benefits of trees. Extension 
continues to focus on transferring new technology 
to research users and to provide feedback to re- 
searchers about the needs of forest landowners, 
managers, processors, and consumers. It also 
helps policymaking by providing factual and credi- 
ble information to the public regarding forestry (Ex- 
tension Committee on Organization and Policy 
1976). 
Few evaluations of forestry extension per se 
have been performed. Agricultural economists have 
performed detailed analyses of the combined re- 
turns to investment in agricultural research and ex- 
tension and found that they have large payoffs (e.g., 
Huffman 1978, Norton and Davis 1981, Orden and 
Buccola 1980). In a 1983 national forum on nonin- 
dustrial private forests held in St. Louis, education of 
woodland owners was identified as one of the most 
effective ways to stimulate management of privately 
held forest land. Extension forestry does serve as 
