have made it possible to 
move emergency firefighting 
crews throughout the country 
when needed. Southern 
firefighting teams were used 
on fires in the Western States 
in 1985. 
Inthe South, the State forestry 
organizations are the leaders 
and principal coordinators 
for all fire protection on State 
and private lands. In each 
State, Cooperative 
agreements are in place for 
protection of, or cooperation 
in the protection of, Federal 
lands. 
Other USDA Programs 
During the postwar years, 
State Foresters were asked 
to cooperate on a number of 
other Federal programs with 
several agencies. Besides 
those programs previously 
mentioned, State forestry 
organizations were involved 
in planning and conducting 
forestry activities under the 
Watershed Protection and 
Flood Prevention Act of 1954, 
PE. 566: 
Initiation of State 
Incentives Programs 
During the rapid expansion 
of the forest industries after 
World War Il, the Forest 
Service has carefully 
surveyed both timber growth 
and harvest. In hardwoods, 
the size and quality of 
individual trees have trended 
downward. Total volume 
growth, however, has trended 
upward. There is currently a 
substantial excess of 
hardwood growth over 
harvest southwide. However, 
in the Mississippi River Delta 
region, the clearing of 
hardwood bottomlands for 
agriculture has removed 
thousands of acres of forest 
land from production in 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Arkansas. 
The situation in pine is quite 
different. While growth in the 
South has continued to 
exceed harvest, the trendlines 
for both are converging. In 
some areas, harvest is 
exceeding growth. For 
example, the 1966 forest 
survey reports for Virginia 
indicate that this was 
happening in the 
southeastern part of the 
State. The survey report 
forcefully stated that the 
71 
