ment practices, the prices and uses of forest 

 and range products, and the physical aspects 

 of the forest and range resource. Need for 

 research is becoming increasingly urgent on 

 ways of using forest and range land, and 

 water, which will minimize impacts on the 

 environment. 



Inevitably in expanding programs to increase 

 supplies of forest, range and water products, 

 the point will be reached where increasing the 

 output of one product will constrain or reduce 

 the output of another. Research is perhaps the 

 best hope of developing ways of integrating 

 and balancing multiple uses of renewable re- 

 sources and reducing the conflicts which are 

 likely to result from rapidly expanding 

 demands. 



Finally, there is the need to further explore the 

 economic, social, and environmental implica- 

 tions of a future in which the demands for 

 nearly all forest and range land products are 

 increasing more rapidly than supplies. This is a 

 basic need — it is the societal basis for chang- 

 ing policies and programs. The results of this 

 research are likely to have profound impacts 

 on the future management and use of the 

 Nation's forest, range, and water resources. 



(8) Moving forward to meet projected 



demands for forest and range products 

 requires substantial investments, 

 but these investments promise 

 to be profitable 



Increasing and extending supplies of renewable 

 resource products is technically feasible and can be 

 done while maintaining the forest and range envi- 

 ronment. However, substantive progress in meeting 

 prospective increases in the demand for forest, range, 

 and water products will require large public and pri- 

 vate investments in a variety of management, re- 

 search, and assistance programs. Large expenditures 

 will also be required to provide the necessary physi- 

 cal facihties and the plant and equipment needed to 

 harvest, process, and use the additional supplies of 

 products. 



It has not been feasible in this Assessment to eval- 

 uate in aggregative ways the costs and benefits asso- 

 ciated with moving forward to meet demands for 

 renewable resource products. However, the partial 

 analyses that have been made indicate that when the 

 economic, social, and environmental benefits are 

 considered, the investments are likely to be profit- 

 able from the standpoint of the society and the 

 economy. 



XV 



