The Setting for the Future 



When the first settlers arrived in the South, they faced a 

 great forest that stretched from the Atlantic coast to the 

 Plains of the West. They began to clear this forest for 

 farms, towns, and roads. Some of the forest was also cut for 

 timber for cabins and furniture, fences and fuel, and for 

 exports to England and other European countries. As the 

 population grew and economic activity and trade expanded, 

 the cutting oi' forests accelerated. As a result, the forest and 

 timber resources that exist today are much different from 

 those at the time settlement began. 



The uses oi' the forest and forest land have also changed 

 over time. But they still play a vital role in the social, 

 cultural, and economic life of the South. They provide sites 

 for recreation for tens of millions of people; they protect 

 watersheds that are the source of water for much domestic 

 and industrial use: and they provide habitat for nearly all 



wildlife and fish species in the South. Forests and forest 

 lands also produce forage for domestic livestock and 

 wildlife, and minerals that are important to the national 

 economy. Of all the benefits associated with southern 

 forests, however, timber is usually considered to be the most 

 important economically. 



Timber generates employment and income throughout the 

 South 's economy, not only in jobs directly related to timber 

 management, harvesting, and processing of primary wood 

 products but also in the manufacture or construction of all 

 products containing wood or wood fiber and in wholesale 

 and retail trade, transportation, and other service and trade 

 industries. Every household and business uses timber 

 products in some form such as furniture, paper, containers, 

 or the thousands o\' other things made in whole or in part 



B\ 2030 there will be 319 million people in 

 the United States. Per eapita incomes will 

 more than double. So there is a big job 

 ahead — meeting the timber demands of 

 another 77 million people, and those ot 319 

 million with incomes more than twice those 

 ot toda\ 



