The South's Fourth Forest--Creating the Future 
R. Neil Sampson (1) 
The forests of the South frame the quality of life 
in this region and always have done so. Almost half 
of the land in most Southern States is forest, even 
after three centuries of settlement and increasingly 
intensive land use. Whether these forests are seen 
as the economic base for lumbering, papermaking, 
shipbuilding or grazing--or the environmental base 
for hunting, trapping, fishing or rural living--they 
have always formed the background for the quality 
of southern life. 
In addition, these forests are critically important 
to the Nation and the world. The production of over 
$6 billion worth of forest products each year, for 
example, has economic implications that extend far 
beyond the borders of the Southern States. 
The questions we ask today have not so much 
to do with the southern forest of today but with the 
forest of the future. What will it be like? Our forefa- 
thers cut down the virgin forest, and in many areas 
it was replaced with a mediocre second forest. Then 
professional forestry came along, accompanied by 
both public and private concern over the future of 
forestry in the South, and a third forest emerged. 
This third forest, representing a real triumph of pub- 
lic and private investment guided by technical skill, 
has supported a tremendously vital forest industry 
while providing a host of environmental, recreation- 
al, and esthetic benefits over the years. 
Today, we recognize that the third forest is be- 
ginning to wane and that it will need to be renewed 
if we are to expect a continuation of the benefits we 
have grown to enjoy in the past. 
That forests can be renewed, even greatly im- 
proved in the process, is not at issue. The third 
forest proved that this could be done. But what we 
must not forget is that renewal was no accident. It 
was, in fact, a gift to our generation from our forefa- 
thers. It was spurred by New Deal soil-conservation 
and tree-planting programs, the growth of State 
forestry agencies, the emergence of industrial 
forestry programs, the Soil Bank, and a host of pub- 
lic and private efforts. 
That is the key word: effort. The challenge for 
the South's fourth forest is not whether or not the 
(1) R. Neil Sampson is Executive Vice President, American 
Forestry Association. 
region needs a productive, thriving forest--or 
whether or not we know how to assure that such a 
forest will exist in the future. The challenge is 
whether or not we will be willing to exert the effort 
to make it happen. 
As we face that challenge, several aspects of 
the problem must be considered. First, we need 
facts about forest lands and forests, about what is 
happening today and what trends are affecting both 
lands and forests. We need some insight into where 
those trends seem to be leading and what, if any- 
thing, we can do to change trends that seem to be 
leading in the wrong way. That is why the study we 
are reviewing today is so important, and why the 
outstanding public-private cooperation that has 
gone into its preparation is so heartening. 
In addition to information, though, we need to 
have a vision about what we want the fourth forest 
to be. That vision must be developed with some 
forethought about who and what will benefit if the 
vision is realized. These are not simply technical 
questions. The social distribution of benefits among 
all the citizens of this region--and beyond--are vital 
aspects of any proposal for future land use and 
management options. 
The vision needs to be based in reality. We 
need to understand the probable limits that we face 
and not build a plan based on the vain hope that 
these limits will somehow disappear. We have only 
so much land, and there are other claims that will 
prevent every potential acre from being used for 
intensive timber production. These tradeoffs must 
be assessed. 
We have technological and economic limits, 
too, that must be viewed realistically. We can grow 
a tree virtually anywhere, provided we give it the 
proper support. But if we are going to sell that tree 
as fiber on the market, we must keep the costs of 
growing it low enough to be competitive. This 
means that, on a straight economic basis, there are 
lands that are not now, and are not likely to ever be, 
feasible for use as commercial timber lands. That 
doesn't mean these are not valuable forests, provid- 
ing a wide variety of forest benefits. It just means 
that we should recognize the fact that not all forests 
are--or should be--seen as commercial timber- 
growing sites. 
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