OUTLOOK IN TIMBER PRODUCTION 



49 



needs of the Nation for timber.^^ Whatever the prac- 

 tical difficulties, there is no problem in growth capac- 

 ity. The art of timber management has gone well 

 beyond the point where it can meet an annual growth 

 goal of some 800 million cubic feet of total growth 

 (48 cubic feet per acre) and 3 billion board feet of 

 sawlog growth (181 board feet per acre) in Missis- 

 sippi's forests. 



Because of the current rapid decline in Mississippi's 

 forest resource, it cannot be supposed that any attempt 

 to meet a reasonable growth goal will be painless. 



^^ A long-range growth goal for the Nation has been esti- 

 mated at 20 billion cubic feet of timber annually, including 

 72 billion board feet of saw timber. This is calculated to 

 produce the amount of timber a prosperous nation might 

 use if the supply were sufficient to keep forest products of 

 a suitable kind and quality available at reasonable prices. 

 The goal also includes a margin for irreducible losses, in- 

 effective growth, new use, exports, and a backlog for national 

 security. (See U. S. Dept. Agr. Misc. Pub. 668, forests 



AND NATIONAL PROSPERITY^ pp. 33—45). 



Improved timber management implies, among other 

 things, that more landowners will lighten their harvest 

 cutting to insure prompt and full reproduction after 

 cutting, or they v/ill withhold timber from the market 

 in order to grow more timber volume and higher- 

 quality products. The effect will probably be to re- 

 duce drain in the short run, which will mean a corre- 

 sponding decline in forest industry. If drain is not 

 contracted, it is not likely that improvements in growth 

 will be rapid enough to compensate for the rapid 

 depletion of growing stock. 



The reduction in drain, however, need be only tem- 

 porary. As more good management is instituted, the 

 forest growing stock and timber growth will increase. 

 The approach to a goal of a sustained output of prod- 

 ucts aggregating 3 billion board feet of timber and 

 corresponding volumes of employment and income 

 could get under way. Any lesser goal will not satisfy 

 Mississippi's needs nor the Nation's needs for adequate 

 resources to maintain a prosperous economy. 



