Destructive agents kill 13 billion board- 

 feet of sawtimber annually or enough 

 to supply the wood needed for 1 mil- 

 lion average homes. The Nation could 

 do a more effective job of reducing this 

 extraordinary toll. 



Although insects kill more trees each 

 year than does fire or disease, over the 

 long run disease is the most destructive 

 agent. In its long-range effects on 

 sawtimber growth, disease outranks 

 both insects and fire more than two to 

 one. 



INSECTS AND DISEASE 





We have made great progress in pre- 

 venting and controlling forest fires, but 

 even so only 15 percent of our com- 

 mercial forest area is adequately pro- 

 tected against a really bad fire year. 

 Fire, potentially the greatest forest 

 enemy, still destroys tremendous quan- 

 tities of timber. Even more significant, 

 fire opens the way for insects and 

 diseases and the greater losses they 

 inflict. 



