with many rural residents, mostly 

 part-time farmers, throughout the 

 district. They generally agreed that 

 something had to be done and that an 

 organization owned and operated by 

 woodland owners offered the best so- 

 lution to their problem. 



Preliminary Steps 

 to Organizing 



Before the association was organ- 

 ized, local Forest Service personnel 

 studied the conditions under which it 

 was to operate. County Agricultural 

 Agents, State Agricultural Experiment 

 Station personnel and Farm Security 

 Administration people also were called 

 on for assistance. 



The study determined that: (1) There 

 was sufficient interest to form the 

 association, (2) principal pulpwood pur- 

 chasers would do business with the 

 cooperative, (3) an unsecured loan of 

 $3,000 for operating capital could be 

 obtained from the Farm Security 

 Administration, and (4) the Detroit 

 and Mackinac Railroad would request 

 reduced freight rates for rough pulp- 

 wood shipments. 



A general meeting of local wood- 

 land owners and interested residents 

 was then held and a decision was made 

 to organize. 



Some Organizational and 

 Operational Features 



Au Sable Forest Products Associ- 

 ation thus came into existence in the 



