10 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Timber products consumption is discussed later 

 (page 12). 



Timber-connected activity in 1952 accounted 

 for 6 percent of the man-years of employment, 

 6 percent of compensation paid to all employees, 

 and 5 percent of our national income, as these 

 estimates ^ show: 



Tirnber- 

 Toial connected 



Man-years of employment millions^. 63 3.4 



Compensation of employees -biUion dollars,- 195 11 



National income do 290 15 



Timber-connected employment totaled 3.4 mil- 

 lion man-years in 1952 and was heaviest in the 

 fields of lumber manufacture, pulp and paper 

 manufacture, and contract construction, as indi- 

 cated below: 



Employment 

 Thousand 

 Timber-based industries: man-years Percent 



Forestry 65 2 



Lumber and timber basic products 655 19 



Pulp, paper and allied products 504 15 



Wood furniture and fixtures 310 9 



Total 1,534 45 



Other timber-connected activities: 



On farms 300 9 



Contract construction (nonfarm)' 700 20 



nayon and other wood chemicals 236 7 



Timber product transportation 228 7 



Wholesale and retail trade 400 12 



Total 1,864 55 



All activities 3,398 100 



1 Does not include force account construction because of 

 lack of data. 



Sources: U. S. Department of Commerce, National 

 Income, 1954 edition, Washington, D. C, 1955, and other 

 Department of Commerce statistics. 



Another important index oi the role of timber 

 products in the national economy is the propor- 

 tion they comprise of the total mix of physical- 

 structure raw materials (fig. 3). During the earlj" 

 1900's timber products (other than fuel wood) 

 comprised close to one-third of total consumption 

 of physical-structure materials. The proportion 

 grew steadily less for the next 20 years, from 1910 

 to 1930. In the 1930's and early 1940's, it di- 

 minished still further, but then the trend was re- 

 versed. During 1950-52, timber comprised about 

 20 percent of the total physical-structure raw 

 materials intake, which is about the same as it 

 comprised during the period 1925-40. Thus 

 there appears to be no current trend downward in 

 the importance of timber products in the national 

 economy. 



A marked shift in product composition toward 

 pulpwood and an expected further shift in the 



5 Sources: U. S. Department of Commerce, National 

 Income, 1954 edition, Washington, D. C, 1954, and U. S. 

 Department of Commerce and U. S. Bureau of the Census 

 statistics. 



same direction lends new strength to the role of 

 timber in the national economy. This shift has 

 opened profitable outlets for large volumes of 

 wood otherwise not usable. In the early 1900's 

 pulpwood comprised about 2 percent of the indus- 

 trial wood input, veneer and minor products 

 about 25 percent, and lumber more than 70 per- 

 cent (fig. 4). By 1952, pulpwood had increased 

 to 27 percent of the total, lumber had declined to 

 62 percent, and minor products had also declined. 



Outlook for Forestry 



The outlook for forestry in a national setting as 

 just described could hardly be other than favor- 

 able. There have been relativelj^ high prices, 

 strong demand, and no general depression in re- 

 cent years. Forestry is being practiced on both 

 private and public lands at an accelerated rate. 

 It is increasingly recognized that growing timber 

 is economically profitable under certain condi- 

 tions, particularly where forest industries have 

 substantial timber and financial resources. 



Adjustments of a financial character favorable 

 to forestry and forest industries have recently 

 been made, such as the 1943 timber capital gains 

 amendment to the Internal Revenue Code and 

 the Federal tax amortization program under 

 which accelerated write-off of new plant invest- 

 ment was permissible. In 1953, national banks 

 were authorized to make loans for terms up to 10 

 years seciu-ed by forest tracts "which are property 

 managed in all respects.'" 



In general. Federal. State, and private forestry 

 programs are moving forward, some more rapidty 

 than others. Short term ups and downs have oc- 

 cmred, but over the last seveial decades the prog- 

 ress in forestry has been lemarkable. Least 

 progress has been made on the most important 

 segment of the total forest situation — the four and 

 one-half million small farm and other small private 

 holdings that comprise over half of the commer- 

 cial forest land. Private-public relations in for- 

 estry are improving as is mutual respect and con- 

 fidence and a tendency to work together in 

 greater harmony toward common objectives. 



One of the most important assumptions for the 

 future made in the Timber Resoiuce Review is 

 that recent improved trends in forestry will con- 

 tinue. Projections of inventory and growth aie 

 based on this assumption rather than on status 

 quo in forestry. Improvements in utilization have 

 been considered in adjustment of the utilization 

 factors converting projected demand to timber 

 cut. Full account has been taken of trends toward 

 accelerated planting, improved protection, cul- 

 tural and other forest management measures. 

 Tangible recognition of progress in forestry was 

 made in the projections of timber inventory and 

 growth. 



