The Federal contributions for 
fire control under 
Clarke-McNary continued to 
increase through fiscal year 
1932 and then declined 
slightly until 19385, when they 
again began to increase 
slowly, reaching $2 million 
for the first time in 1939 
(Peirce and Stahl 1964). 
Though the Depression hit 
Southern States hard, many 
were able to continue to 
develop their programs. 
Texas reported that both 
State and Federal funds 
increased every year except 
1931 (Chapman 1981). 
Mississippi passed legislation 
that permitted counties to 
request countywide fire 
protection by the Mississippi 
Forestry Commission, which 
would be reimbursed from a 
2-cents-per-acre tax on forest 
and uncultivated land 
(Mississippi Forestry 
Commission 1984 unpubl.). 
In 1932, Georgia built two 
nurseries to produce 
seedlings for private 
landowners (Pikl 1966). And 
in 1934, Florida expanded its 
nursery program and moved 
it to a new nursery at Olustee 
(Coulter 1958 unpubl.). 
38 
Forest Survey 
The USDA Forest Service 
and the States had been 
concerned for many years 
about inadequate information 
on the forest resource. There 
had been no systematic 
inventory of forest lands and, 
more importantly, no 
inventory of the available 
timber or reliable information 
on growth. The Forest Service 
undertook the first such 
inventory in the South in the 
1930's. The task was 
assigned to the forest 
experiment stations. With 
cooperation from the States 
and private landowners, the 
survey began on an individual 
State basis. This first Survey 
and subsequent ones have 
provided invaluable data that 
States use to plan their 
programs and forest 
industries use to make 
decisions on plant locations 
and expansions. 
In the late thirties, in an effort 
to improve planning for the 
Nation’s resources, a National 
Resources Planning Board 
was established with regional 
offices. In 1940, the regional 
office in Atlanta published 
"The Southern Forests: A 
Report of the Regional 
Committee on Southern 
= re 
