States. Increased energy production from fossil fuels 

 has the potential for increasing these impacts and 

 extending them to other areas of the country. A 10- 

 year accelerated study of this problem has been 

 recently proposed by the President. 



Air pollution affects scenic values of some forest 

 and range lands. Thirty million acres of Federally 

 owned land in 37 States has been designated by Con- 

 gress for special protection of visibility and other air 

 quality-related values. Protecting these lands will 

 have indirect impacts because major emitting facili- 

 ties will not be permitted to locate in any area where 

 adverse effects may result on these Federal lands. 



Impacts of forest and range lands on air — Natural 

 emissions from forest and range lands vegetation con- 

 tributes to the composition of the air resource. Plants 

 exchange compounds with the air. For example, an 

 elm tree of medium size will give off 15,000 pounds of 

 water on a clear, dry, hot day. Millions of tons of 

 hydrocarbons are emitted into the air daily from 

 decomposing plant materials and living plants. Wild- 

 fires emit thousands of tons of particulates and other 

 matter into the air each year, reducing visibility in 

 broad areas of the Nation. 



Other emission sources from forest and range lands 

 are associated with production of goods and services. 

 Fire is used intentionally on large areas under certain 

 environmental conditions to manage vegetation for 

 wildlife habitat, insect and disease control, wildfire 

 prevention, timber production, and other objectives. 

 Emissions from these fires are significant, but can be 

 managed to minimize adverse effects. Roads and 

 their attendant traffic and off-road vehicles and 

 equipment used for logging, mining, and recreation 

 produce emissions, but to a lesser extent than fire. In 

 the future as the intensity of use of forest and range 

 lands grows, greater efforts may be necessary to con- 

 trol undesirable emissions. 



Summary 



The Nation's forest and range lands, in their great 

 variety, support a broad array of uses that are impor- 

 tant to the economy and to general social well-being 

 of the Nation. As the population grows, and incomes 

 and tastes change, the demands for these resources 

 will also grow and change. As long as the inherent 

 productivity of these lands is protected and main- 

 tained, they can be managed to provide increased 

 amounts of practically all resources and uses. 



Almost every one of the 1 .6 billion acres of forest 

 and range lands now provides two or more major 

 outputs — outdoor recreation range for domestic 

 livestock, timber, water, wilderness, and wildlife and 

 fish. On much of the land multiple-use takes place 

 with no apparent conflict among resource uses; on 

 many other areas, conflicts among uses are mini- 

 mized through careful management. 



As demands for the resources on these lands 

 increase, however, the intensity of management and 

 regulation of use must also increase to cope with the 

 inevitable intensification of conflicts among alterna- 

 tive uses. In some instances, one important use will 

 have to give way to another. The purpose of this 

 report is to provide information to facilitate the effi- 

 cient allocation of the Nation's forest, range, and 

 related water resources. 



The following chapters will provide information on 

 the likely trends in the demands for each of the major 

 uses of forest and range lands and will assess the 

 capability of these lands to satisfy expected demands. 

 Although major uses are discussed separately, it must 

 be borne in mind that they take place on the ground 

 in a myriad of overlapping combinations. No re- 

 source or use can be examined in isolation and with- 

 out consideration of other resources and uses on the 

 same limited areas. Every effort has been made to 

 keep this salient feature of the use of forest and range 

 lands in view throughout this report. The great chal- 

 lenge facing the owners and managers of private and 

 public forest and range lands is the integrated man- 

 agement of all of these resources. 



