Foreword 



Preface 



There is a tide in the affairs of men which 

 taken at the flood leads on to fortune; omitted, 

 all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows 

 and in miseries. 



(Shakespeare, Julius Caesar) 



In recent decades there have been great achievements in 

 forestry in the South. The huge areas of cutover, 

 unproductive land and the uncontrolled fires of the late 

 1800's and early 1900's are problems of the past. A second 

 forest and then a third forest have been regenerated. The 

 second forest has been harvested; timber from the third 

 forest is now the most important agricultural crop in the 

 South. The industries processing this timber lead all other 

 manufacturing industries in numbers of employees and in 

 wages and salaries paid to workers. 



So the tide has been rising in the South. But now it is 

 beginning to ebb. The most recent surveys of forest 

 resources show that net annual timber growth is declining. 

 Softwood timber removals are above net annual growth 

 over large areas, and inventories are beginning to decrease. 

 A similar situation is in the offing for hardwoods. Unless 

 action is taken to sustain increases in timber growth and 

 inventories, the economic importance of the forestry sector 

 in the South will surely decline. 



But we can change this outlook. We have opportunities to 

 approximately double current softwood growth and sustain 

 employment and income in the forestry sector. If we take 

 these opportunities, we can move on to fortune. We can 

 greatly increase the real wealth of the South and the Nation, 

 to the benefit of present and future generations. 



This report summarizes and highlights the major findings of 

 a comprehensive analysis of the timber situation in the 

 South: "The South's Fourth Forest: Alternatives for the 

 Future."' The basic purpose of the analysis is to describe 

 what kind of forest is evolving in the South, what kind of 

 forest will be of greatest benefit to the economy and 

 society, and how it can be achieved. 



To meet these broad objectives, the analysis describes recent 

 and prospective trends in the timber resource; the 

 economic, social, and environmental implications of these 

 trends; and the opportunities to manage and use forest 

 resources in ways that will sustain continued increases in 

 timber growth and the forestry sector of the economy while 

 protecting and enhancing the forest environment. "The 

 South"s Fourth Forest" also describes recent and 

 prospective trends in timber demands; the forest resource 

 base; the economic importance of timber and the forest 

 industries; and the policies and programs — fire protection, 

 technical and financial assistance, research, education, and 

 the management of private and public timberlands — that have 

 been effective in the regeneration of the second and third 

 forests in the South. 



The work on the comprehensive analysis was a collaborative 

 effort carried out with the assistance, advice, and guidance 

 of participants from State forestry agencies, timberland 

 owners, forestry schools, forest industries, and consulting 

 foresters. The geographic area covered includes 12 Southern 

 States divided into two regions. The Southeast region 

 includes the five States along the Atlantic coast — Virginia, 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The 

 South Central region includes seven States along the gulf 

 coast and inland — Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

 Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas. 





F. Dale Robertson 

 Chief, Forest Service 



' U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. [In press.] The South's 

 fourth forest: alternatives for the future. For. Resour. Rep. 24. 

 Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. 



