tions, laws, and regulations as described under 

 (3) above is interwoven throughout the report. 



This assessment also includes a discussion^ of the 

 additional fiber potential in the Nation's forests; 

 opportunities for increased utilization and recycling 

 of forest, processing, and urban wood and fiber 

 residues; primary wood manufacturing and process- 

 ing facilities; the impact of the export and import of 

 logs upon domestic timber supplies and prices; and 

 the role of urban areas in meeting the demands for 

 renewable resource products. 



A number of needs are served by the descriptive 

 material and data on the forest and range lands and 

 inland water base; the ownership, use, and produc- 

 tivity of these lands and waters; and on uses, prices, 

 and international trade in products. Such material 

 and data provide a factual basis for judging the 

 results of forest and range land policies and pro- 

 grams. In addition, it provides a basis for analyzing 

 trends in markets and prices of many products, for 

 appraising the need for and the economic feasibility 

 of expanding manufacturing, ranching, and recrea- 

 tional facilities, and for identifying the States and 

 regions where forest and range land resources can 

 support such expansion. It also provides the factual 

 foundation required for projecting future trends in 

 demands and supplies for renewable resource 

 products. 



The material on future demands and the capacity 

 to meet these demands is a very basic part of the 

 Assessment. The demand projections show the vol- 

 ume of forest and range land and water products 

 that people would like to consume under the given 

 assumptions on future changes in population, eco- 

 nomic activity, income, energy costs, technology, 

 institutions, relative prices, and other determinants. 

 The supply material describes the capacity of forest 

 and range lands and the associated waters to meet 

 these demands if recent trends in investments, man- 

 agement, utilization, research, and facilities continue 

 through the projection period. 



Comparisons of the demand-supply projections 

 thus provide a means of identifying future imbal- 

 ances between the volume of products that would be 

 consumed under the given assumptions on demand 

 determinants and the volume that would be avail- 

 able for use if recent trends in investments continue. 

 In addition, these projections provide a basis for 

 estimating prospective increases in relative prices of 

 products, such as timber and forage, necessary to 

 bring about an equilibrium between the projected 

 demands and suppHes. They also provide a measure 



'This discussion is included as a response to the direction in 

 Section 3(c) and Section 5(5)(E) of the Renewable Resources 

 Planning Act as amended by the National Forest Management 



Act. 



of the unsatisfied demand for products where the 

 price system does not act to bring about an 

 equilibrium. 



The projections of timber demands and supplies 

 and the equilibrium prices provide guidance for 

 many decisions on long-range commitments, such as 

 the construction of recreation or manufacturing 

 facilities or investment in management practices such 

 as reforestation or habitat improvement whose 

 effects can be realized only over an extended period. 

 They also provide a basis for analyzing the eco- 

 nomic, social, environmental, and resource implica- 

 tions which would result from a continuation of 

 recent trends in investments in management, re- 

 search, assistance, and construction prograijis. This 

 analysis is the key to determining whether to con- 

 tinue existing policies and programs or to change 

 them in ways perceived to be more desirable from 

 the standpoint of the economy and the society. 



This is the second in the series of required Assess- 

 ments under the Renewable Resources Planning Act 

 as amended. The first Assessment^ was submitted to 

 Congress in March 1976. Although that Assessment, 

 and the associated Forest Service Program, were 

 used in the Executive Branch and Congress in for- 

 mulating and funding Forest Service programs, it is 

 too early to appraise the more general effects on 

 renewable resource policies and programs. The im- 

 pacts of the earlier assessments of the forest situa- 

 tion, however, are clear.' These past assessments 

 have played an important role in the development 

 and guidance of public and private forest policies 

 and programs. They have defined problems, aroused 

 public interest, and provided a factual and analytical 

 foundation for policies and programs that had pro- 

 found impacts upon the management of the Nation's 

 forest resource. Uses of these kinds are evident in the 

 records of hearings held before Federal and State 

 legislative committees on forestry legislation and the 

 budget statements prepared by forestry agencies re- 

 questing funds for forest programs. Available infor- 

 mation suggests that the recent assessments have 

 been used in much the same way in the private 

 sector — to identify prospective supply problems and 

 as a factual and analytical base for the establishment 

 and funding of forestry programs. 



In preparing this Assessment, the demand and 

 supply analysis required by the basic legislation has 

 necessarily been confined to the more tangible prod- 

 ucts of forest and range lands and inland waters. It 



*■ Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Nation's 

 renewable resources — an assessment, 1975. For. Resource Rep. 

 21, U.S. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C. 243 p. 1977. 



'The most recent of these assessments are cited in the timber 

 chapter of this document. 



VI 



