assigned to the States for 
work on private lands; corps 
labor was restricted to State 
and Federal lands. There 
was a general feeling that 
State ownership of lands 
should be increased. It was 
proposed that Federal funds 
be used to purchase land 
for State administration. The 
States would repay the 
Federal Government with the 
income from management of 
these State forest lands 
(Smith 1935). 
The Bankhead — Jones Farm 
Tenant Act of July 22, 1937, 
provided new authority to 
the Secretary of Agriculture 
to acquire lands for the 
purposes of Carrying out a 
program of land conservation 
and utilization that would 
correct maladjustments in 
land use and provide many 
public benefits. 
The Resettlement 
Administration acquired large 
acreages of wornout farmland 
in the Southern States. The 
purpose was to assist farmers 
in relocating to better jobs 
and removing them from 
their subsistence-level 
farming. These lands were 
generally of low agricultural 
productivity and often badly 
eroded with little chance for 
48 
rehabilitation while being 
farmed. These lands were 
disposed of in several ways. 
Initially many were set up as 
land utilization projects and 
managed by the Soil 
Conservation Service. These 
projects were turned over to 
the USDA Forest Service for 
management in the 1950's 
and subsequently proclaimed 
national forests, for example, 
the Oconee in Georgia and 
the Tombigbee in Mississippi. 
some Resettlement 
Administration lands were 
turned over to the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service for 
refuges such as the Piedmont 
National Wildlife Refuge in 
Georgia. 
In many locations, the State 
became the recipient of the 
lands, first through lease 
and later through gift or 
purchase. A number of 
projects became State parks 
and major elements of State 
park systems. Many Southern 
States acquired the lands for 
State forests. They range in 
size from a few thousand 
acres up to the 182,000-acre 
Blackwater River State Forest 
in Florida. Many are big, and 
all are managed for multiple 
use: demonstration, wildlife, 
recreation, timber, and water, 
among others. Other 
