States to employ a few farm 
foresters. During World War 
ll, those funds were used to 
employ marketing specialists 
to increase the production of 
timber. Immediately after the 
war, there was a strong 
interest on the part of the 
Forest Service and the 
Association of State Foresters 
in moving ahead with a 
landowner assistance 
program. At the close of the 
war, the Secretary of 
Agriculture transferred the 
Soil Conservation Service’s 
Norris-Doxey functions to the 
Forest Service, and the Forest 
Service then changed the 
assistance program to a 
reimbursable, State-directed 
operation in 1947. This switch 
from Federal to State 
employees prevailed despite 
resistance by some Forest 
Service offices (Zimmerman 
1976). 
In response to a departmental 
long-range planning request 
in 1947, the Forest Service 
had listed as a high priority 
technical assistance to small 
landowners and the 
elimination of restrictions on 
who could receive help. 
Nonindustrial owners held 
millions of acres of land in 
nonfarm holdings. The 
controversy over jurisdiction 
of the Norris-Doxey Farm 
Forestry Program had kept a 
unified effort on the issue 
stalled. Resolving the 
controversy in 1948 cleared 
the way for the Association 
of State Foresters to begin 
efforts for legislation to 
address the problems of 
management of all 
nonindustrial private forest 
lands. 
In December 1948, the 
executive committee of the 
Association of State Foresters 
voted to join with the State 
extension services in 
promoting forestry legislation 
that would increase the 
authorizations for 
Clarke-McNary sections 2 
and 4, broaden section 4 to 
include nonfarm lands, clarify 
section 5 to make it clear 
that education is intended, 
and make provision for forest 
management service work. 
When the proposed 
legislation was introduced in 
the House, and a companion 
bill in the Senate, opposition 
came only from the National 
Lumber Manufacturers 
Association, the Consulting 
Foresters Association, and 
the Commercial 
Nurserymen’s Association. 
These amendments to the 
Clarke-McNary Act became 
67 
