14 THE PKOFESSION OF FOKESTEY. 



men each year. For the immediate future the demand on the part 

 of the States for trained men will probably be nearly as great as on 

 the part of the Federal Government. 



PRIVATE WORK. 



The timberlands belonging to private individuals are more exten- 

 sive and more valuable than those publicly owned. Of the total 

 stand of merchantable timber in the country, fully four-fifths is in 

 private ownership. It is apparent, therefore, that the forest problem 

 is not by any means confined to the public lands. Private forestry 

 Teally offers the broadest field to the trained forester, and it is there 

 that the profession may be expected to make the greatest expansion 

 in the future. 



Private owners may be classified in a general way as lumber com- 

 panies; public service corporations, such as railroad and water com- 

 panies; mining companies; recreation and hunting clubs; large 

 private estates; and farmers'and other small wood-lot owTiers. 



So far the principal activities in forestry on the part of the large 

 lumber companies have been in protecting their holdings from fire. 

 In northwestern Montana, northern Idaho, Washington, and Oregon 

 large lumber companies have taken a very progressive attitude 

 toward the question of fire protection. They have organized timber 

 protective associations, and have employed trained men to put into 

 effect systematic plans for fire protection. Similar action has been 

 taken by some of the lumbermen in the Northeast, notably in Maine 

 and New Hampshire. In other parts of the country the work of fire 

 protection has been largely carried on by the individual lumberman, 

 and has been for the most part spasmodic and uns^'stematic. Never- 

 theless, there is a constantly growing appreciation of the need for such 

 work, and systematic fire protection on the part of the lumber com- 

 panies in nearly all parts of the country may be looked for in the near 

 future. 



Although there is a steadily increasing interest in forestry among 

 lumbermen, relatively few foresters have as yet been employed by 

 them. The technical work that has so far been done by the lumber 

 companies has been elementary in character and of such a nature 

 that it could be conducted by practical men already in their employ. 

 The large companies in the far West have taken the position that fire 

 protection is the problem of first importance and that aU questions 

 in technical forestry, including reforestation, must come second. A 

 number of large paper companies in the East, however, have gone a 

 step farther, and, in addition to protecting their holdings from fire, 

 place a minimum limit upon the size of the trees cut in their opera- 

 tions. Some of these companies are even beguining to reforest their 

 waste lands. 



