obtained on the response of trees on various soils, 

 and the effects of fertilizers on the environment. 

 Research on genetic improvements in timber growing 

 should include better methods of progeny testing to 

 detect natural resistance to insects and diseases. 



There are substantial areas where planting costs are 

 high. The development of lower cost techniques for 

 site preparation and planting for such areas would 

 improve returns from forest investments. In many 

 forest types, development of more effective methods 

 of timber harvesting, to bring about natural regenera- 

 tion of desirable timber species, is of key significance 

 in assuring prompt and low-cost establishment of 

 new stands and the protection of esthetic or other 

 nontimber values. Improvement of aerial logging 

 techniques using skyline systems could increase 

 timber harvests as well as enhance environmental 

 values. 



Reducing Losses 



Reduction of mortality from poor harvesting prac- 

 tices, wildfire, insects, and diseases can increase net 

 annual growth. Research can reduce losses by devel- 

 oping more effective preventive and control tech- 

 niques and better understanding of fire effects. 



Effective fire management. — The largest and most 

 effective management effort in the United States has 

 been in the control of forest fires. The results have 

 been remarkable, with a decline in area burned from 

 30 to 40 million acres annually at the beginning of the 

 century to about 5 million acres annually in the 

 mid-1970's. 



Despite the progress that has taken place, there 

 appear to be additional opportunities to further 

 reduce fire losses and costs through development and 

 use of improved technology in fire prevention, detec- 

 tion, suppression, presuppression, and fuels man- 

 agement. These opportunities include developing a 

 better understanding of ways to prevent fires, improv- 

 ing detection systems, and the development of tech- 

 niques for more effective control of fires. Improved 

 fire suppression systems, particularly on large fires 

 that characteristically result in greatest fire damage, 

 could also reduce losses. 



Fire losses might also be cut by reducing fuel 

 accumulation on cutover areas through the develop- 

 ment of markets for logging residues and/ or im- 

 proved cleanup of cutover areas. Future improve- 

 ment of techniques for use of prescribed fire to reduce 

 the build up of flammable debris and litter also could 

 help reduce the intensity of wildfires and attendant 

 losses. There is a related need for research on ways of 

 dispersing and/ or minimizing smoke from prescribed 

 fires to meet acceptable air quality standards. 



Better control of insects and diseases. — Insects 

 and diseases take a heavy toll of timber by killing 

 trees and by reducing timber growth. Serious losses 

 are caused by a few major pest species such as the 

 western bark beetles, southern pine beetle, spruce bud- 

 worm, gypsy moth, dwarf mistletoes, and root rots 

 which account for most of the mortality. Other 

 insects and diseases cause serious but less spectacular 

 damage by killing shoots and terminals, reducing the 

 rate of growth, or by stunting, deforming, or degrad- 

 ing the value of trees and wood products. 



The use of integrated pest management systems 

 against the major forest pests offers the potential to 

 increase or extend the timber supply in an environ- 

 mentally acceptable manner. Elements of manage- 

 ment systems that could reduce insect- and disease- 

 caused losses include: (1) Silvicultural techniques that 

 encourage more pest resistant stands; (2) improved 

 methods of pest control with biological control 

 agents; (3) selective chemical pesticides which are safe 

 and environmentally acceptable; and (4) stand hazard 

 rating systems that identify pest-susceptible trees and 

 stands. 



Economic Opportunities for 

 Increasing Timber Supplies 



The preceding discussion has been concerned with 

 biological opportunities for increasing timber sup- 

 plies without consideration of costs and returns. With 

 expected changes in management costs and product 

 prices, only part of the biological opportunities can 

 be expected to yield an acceptable rate of return on 

 the investments required to put the opportunities into 

 practice. An ongoing study of the Forest Service and 

 the Forest Industries Council''' indicates that the 

 opportunities that would yield 4 percent or more on 

 the investment, measured in constant dollars, are 

 large and, if carried out, would in time increase 

 timber supplies in a major way. 



Results from the study show that there are eco- 

 nomic opportunities for treatment on 168 million 

 acres of commercial timberland — some 35 percent of 

 the Nation's total (table 6.30). With treatment of 

 these acres, net annual timber growth could be 

 increased by 12.9 billion cubic feet, a volume roughly 

 equal to three-fifths of the total net annual growth in 

 1976. Achieving this growth would require time since 

 it would take several decades for the effects of most 

 investments to be realized. The bulk of the opportuni- 

 ties are for softwoods. 



Nearly three-quarters of the treatment opportuni- 

 ties on an area basis involve reforestation or conver- 

 sion of existing stands. This category includes regen- 



259 



