FOREST PROTE'CTION 



219 



there must be a continued trend toward better 

 facilities and techniques for control, and more re- 

 sources to cope with the critical fire periods when 

 most timber losses are sustained. 



Many opportunities to reduce losses from forest 

 insects and disease will result from the extension 

 and intensification of the survey and control ac- 

 tivities authorized by the Forest Pest Control Act 

 of 1947. This Act authorizes the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to provide for detection, appraisal, and 

 control of insects and diseases on Federal forest 

 lands and provides the basis for cooperating with 

 State and private organizations in detecting and 

 controlling pests on non-Federal lands. 



The Forest Service regional experiment stations 

 have been delegated responsibility to conduct in- 

 sect and disease detection surveys on all forest 

 lands for the purpose of locating abnormal occur- 

 rences of pests at early stages. Detection is de- 

 veloped cooperatively by the Forest Service 

 among many State and industrial foresters and 

 private landowners. 



The Forest Service technicians in the experi- 

 ment stations follow up detection reports and make 

 detailed appraisals of infestations on all lands. 

 Recommendations on the technical feasibility and 

 soundness of a control project are made in the ap- 

 praisal report on the basis of the extent, activity, 

 damage, and potential threat of the insect or 

 disease and on the basis of knowledge of control 

 methods. If the outbreak is on federally owned 

 lands, the responsible local land manager recom- 

 mends for or against a control project after 

 balancing costs against the extent to which losses 

 can be prevented. The State forester performs 

 this function if the insect or disease problem is on 

 State or private lands. 



All recommendations for control projects are 

 considered and priorities are assigned for selected 

 projects by the Chief of the Forest Service, who 

 also allots funds appropriated for control work. 

 For projects on Federal lands, the administrative 

 unit of the agency involved plans and conducts 

 the control job with technical assistance from the 

 experiment station personnel. Such jobs are 

 financed entirely from Federal funds. State for- 

 esters usually take the lead in planning and con- 

 ducting control projects on State and private 

 lands but get assistance from industrial foresters 

 and Forest Service technicians. 



Contribution of Federal funds in sharing the 

 costs of control on State or private lands is flexible, 

 depending upon circumstances and upon the na- 

 ture of intermingled land ownership. Under the 

 present policy, 25 percent or occasionally as much 

 as one-third of the cost Of a project on State or 

 private lands may be contributed from Federal 

 sources. During the control job, Forest Service 

 entomologists and pathologists give technical 

 guidance as needed to insure proper use of the 

 best control techniques. Thej^ make inspections 



during control operations and conduct post-con- 

 trol surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of the 

 work. 



The entire pest control survey activity is rela- 

 tively new but gives promise of being an effective 

 system where control of losses dictates the need 

 for direct attack upon forest pests. 



In other directions there is no question but that 

 progress, although slow, is being made in reducing 

 losses from forest diseases. Since 73 percent of 

 the 1952 sawtimber iinpact from disease was at- 

 tributed to the heart rots, gains in reducing their 

 losses would be particularly important. The out- 

 look for major gains in this field is promising in 

 view of anticipated reduction in fire-scarring and 

 logging injury, together with the gradual dying 

 and elimination of badly damaged and decadent 

 timber by cutting, poisoning, or girdling. 



Progress is being made in selection and breeding 

 for resistance to blister rust, littleleaf, and other 

 forest diseases. Blister rust control is becoming 

 more efficient with new mechanical and chemical 

 means of Ribes eradication, and oak wilt control 

 methods have been simplified. Large-scale con- 

 trol against dwarfmistletoe has only recently 

 been started. A substantial reduction in disease 

 mortality is expected in most regions during the 

 next half century, provided no serious new killing 

 diseases make important inroads on commercial 

 species. 



Although few data are available on which to 

 gage future trends in timber losses from insects, 

 several factors point to an improved situation. 

 More than half of the insect loss today is from 

 mortality in western sawtimber. The amount of 

 insect-susceptible old growth is being steadily re- 

 duced and special cuttings to remove potential 

 insect host trees are being extended. Future in- 

 sect control through silviculture will likely increase 

 in effectiveness as we learn more about insects in 

 relation to their environment. Control of stand 

 composition, to remove susceptible tree species, 

 thinning to proper densities, and the development 

 and use of insect-resistant strains of trees will all 

 aid in reducing losses. 



The development of new insecticides to combat 

 both defoliating insects and bark beetled, and new 

 methods of application, have been outstanding in 

 recent years. Continued improvement in both in- 

 secticides and methods of use is expected, with ex- 

 tension of better direct control practices to more 

 kinds of insects. Methods of biological control 

 against forest insects have not been fully explored, 

 but the spread of virus and other insect diseases 

 by airplane holds great promise. Wider use of 

 insects that prey on damaging insects is expected. 



Although the long-term outlook for the reduc- 

 tion of losses from disease and insects is favorable, 

 such progress will doubtless be gradual, tempered 

 by some setbacks, and measured to a considerable 

 degree by progress in research and by coordinated 



