recreation, it may mean higher and 
wider use of access fees or lower 
quality recreational experiences if 
preferred opportunities are not 
available or affordable. Through 
appropriate public and private actions, 
the Nation can make choices about the 
costs and associated benefits of 
opportunities to adjust the supplies of 
resource Outputs to meet projected 
demands at levels desired by society. 
Timber 
Timber management and utilization 
decisions can influence the rate of 
increase in timber prices. One option to 
keep future timber prices down is to 
increase timber supplies. This could be 
achieved by accelerating harvests of 
softwoods on the national forests in 
Washington, Oregon, northern 
California, northern Idaho, and western 
Montana. Both softwood and hardwood 
timber supplies can be expanded by 
increasing harvests on the private 
timberlands in the South and North, 
and by improving the utilization of 
timber and wood resources. 
Acceleration of harvests on the national 
forests would require (1) building roads 
into old-growth timberlands; (2) 
protecting the environment and 
mitigating unacceptable adverse effects 
on wildlife, outdoor recreation, and 
other uses of the managed timberlands; 
and (3) establishing and caring for 
replacement stands. 
Sustained higher harvest levels on 
private timberlands in the South and 
North would also benefit from 
technical assistance and financial 
incentives to nonindustrial private 
landowners to assure that productive 
stands are regenerated and maintained 
(fig. 52). The improved management 
would include appropriate control of 
forest insects and diseases as well. 
Figure 52—One intent of education and technical and financial incentives to nonindustrial private 
landowners is to assure that productive stands are regenerated and maintained. 
While improved utilization provides 
some options, especially in the short 
run, increased net annual growth offers 
the only practical means of meeting the 
longrun projected demands for 
softwoods and hardwoods at lower 
prices. 
Research can lead to the extending of 
timber supplies. It can generate major 
improvements in utilization, primarily 
by reducing the costs and increasing 
the efficiency of utilizing currently 
unused wood materials, of construction 
and manufacturing, and of the design 
and maintenance of products and 
structures. 
As they have in the past, forest- 
products markets will continue to 
change in the future. Therefore, 
research emphases will evolve over 
time. For example, much of the growth 
in roundwood consumption in the 
future will be for pulp and other fiber- 
based products. Research can develop 
technologies that will enable pulp 
manufacturers to use all species in the 
existing timber inventory for pulp 
manufacture. There are associated 
implications for the changes in the 
direction of forest management 
research as well. 
Water 
Both water quantity and quality are 
expected to be important in water-short 
areas of the West. Restoration and 
protection of watersheds on the 
appropriate public lands and 
cooperative assistance in watershed 
planning and land treatment measures 
on private lands can reduce flooding 
while maintaining water quality. The 
yield, timing, and quality of waterflows 
can be improved by research that leads 
to (1) better methods of managing 
forest and range lands to stabilize soils 
and constrain erosion and 
sedimentation, (2) rehabilitation of 
mined and other disturbed areas, and 
(3) minimization of the pollution 
associated with the use of chemical 
fertilizers and pesticides. 
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