318 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Adjustments in National- Forest 

 Areas 



The system of national forests, initiated more 

 than 60 years ago, is beUeved to have stood the 

 test of time. Intermittently questions have been 

 raised as to whether it is desirable public policy to 

 continue a system of national forests or to dispose 

 of all or substantial portions of these lands to 

 individuals or to State or local governments. 

 However, the continuing poUcy of the Executive 

 Branch and the Congress, since establishment of 

 the national forests, has been one of strong support. 



At the same time, with changing conditions, 

 land policies need to be adjusted to meet new 

 economic or social situations. The boundaries 

 of the national forests, for example, should be sub- 

 ject to continuing scrutiny and adjustment which 

 will facilitate more efficient management of both 

 public and private land holdings. There are also 

 situations where certain national-forest lands 

 should be offered for sale to private ownership, as 

 for example small isolated tracts or narrow pro- 

 jecting strips largely outside established bound- 

 aries, lands immediately adjacent to urban areas, 

 or tracts suitable for townsites, when such lands 

 are suitable for private ownership and better 

 adapted to such purposes than to national-forest 

 uses. 



Exchanges of national-forest land for other 

 public or private land, and transfers of land be- 

 tween public agencies, also offer opportunities for 

 bringing about more efficient administration of 

 both national forests as well as other private or 

 public land holdings. Subject to such adjust- 

 ments, it is believed that the national-forest 

 system is sound and that its continuation and 

 further development is desired by the American 

 people. 



The commercial timberlands in the national 

 forests can play an increasingly important role 

 in furnishing the Nation with continuous supplies 

 of timber products of desirable kinds and quality, 

 sustaining forest industries and communities, 

 providing a steady employment base often in 

 areas of underemployment, helping the Nation 

 meet possible emergency needs, managing areas 

 for demonstration of timber-growing practices, 

 and providing leadership and stimulus to private 

 forest-land management. In recent years, the 

 national forests have furnished about 10 percent 

 of the Nation's total sawtimber cut. Through 

 intensive management these public lands have the 

 potential to provide a larger base for forest in- 

 dustries and an increased share of the Nation's 

 timber needs. 



Other Federal Lands Contribute to 

 Timber Supply 



The 18.4 million acres of commercial forest land 

 under Federal administration other than in 



national forests represent about 4 percent of the 

 commercial forest area (table 163, p. 291). Federal 

 agencies other than the Forest Service also ad- 

 minister about one-third of the noncommercial 

 forests, including both productive lands reserved 

 from timber use in the national parks and large 

 areas of open woodland and other types of limited 

 commercial value for timber. 



Areas administered by the Indian Service, com- 

 prising 7 million acres of commercial forests, are 

 included with other Federal holdings because of 

 their Federal administration. These lands are 

 not strictly Federal lands but are held in trust 

 status on a temporary basis pending ultimate 

 disposal to the Indians. Most of the Indian lands 

 are located in the western regions and the Lake 

 States (table 181). 



Commercial forest lands administered by the 

 Bureau of Land Management, totaling 6.3 

 million acres, include 2.1 million acres of val- 

 uable timber lands in the reconveyed Oregon 

 and California and Coos Bay land grants 

 in western Oregon, plus scattered forested areas 

 located chiefly on the vacant, unappropriated, and 

 unreserved public domain in the Western States 

 and Coastal Alaska. These vacant public-domain 

 lands under certain conditions are subject to sale 

 or other disposal to private ownership. 



The 5 million acres of commercial forest land 

 in Federal holdings, other than the national forests 

 or lands administered by the Indian Service and 

 the Bureau of Land Management, are largely in 

 military reservations, game refuges, land-utiliza- 

 tion areas, and reclamation, flood control, and 

 power development areas. These lands are 

 concentrated in the South, but substantial areas 

 are also located in the North. 



Federal lands other than the national forests 

 support relatively heavy volumes of sawtimber, 

 aggregating 135 billion board-feet, or nearly 7 per- 

 cent of the total sawtimber resource (table 168, 

 p. 298, and table 181). Approximately 56 percentof 

 these lands support sawtimber stands, or nearly 

 the same proportion as the national forests sup- 

 port (table 167, p. 296). Growing stock totals 28 

 billion cubic feet, or 5.4 percent of the Nation's 

 total (table 169, p. 298, and table 181). These tim- 

 ber volumes, as in the case of area, are largely 

 concentrated in the western regions. 



managemelvft of federal lands 

 Relatively Good 



The productivity of recently cut lands in the 

 various classes of Federal holdings other than the 

 national forests averages about the same as on the 

 national forests — close to 80 percent in the upper 

 productivity class, and only about 3 percent in the 

 lower productivity class (table 173, p. 303). This 

 is considerably better than the average for all 

 forest land holdings. 



