The private owner must so haniile his forest land that 

 it will grow marketable timber at a reasonable rate, and 

 in so doing he may profit by the counsel and assistance of 

 State and Federal agencies. Forestry practices are 

 already being applied on more than a million acres of 

 private forest land in Louisiana. Wherever private own- 

 ers are unwilling to apply these practices, public controls 

 are necessary to make sure that timber is grown to meet 

 future industrial needs. 



Specifically, private owners, in active cooperation with 

 the Federal and State Governments, should work toward 

 the goal of fire protection for all their forest lands. As a 

 primary step toward increasing in volume and quality the 

 growing stock of their lands, they should harvest their 

 timber according to the principles of sound forest practice 

 and integrated use. Where possible, they should develop 

 the supplementary uses ot private forest land, such as 

 hunting, trapping, and fishing, in order to obtain addi- 

 tional income from the property. To improve marketing 

 conditions and reduce the cost ot technical assistance, the 

 smaller forest-land owners should consider forming regional 

 cooperatives, which could employ technical advisers to 

 work for the common interests ot the members. 



The State Government should first of all provide suffi- 

 cient appropriations, in cooperation with the Federal 

 Government under the Clarke-McNary Act for complete 

 fire protection tor all the torests within its borders. It 

 should augment and intensity its forestry extension activity 

 through expansion of its Division of Forestry and its 

 Agricultural Extension Service. It should provide for 

 additional instruction in forestry in the public schools. 

 Its system of demonstration forests should be extended and 

 should be so distributed throughout the State as to serve 

 the maximum number ot the smaller torest-land owners. 

 The State planning agencies should consider carefully the 

 possible contribution ot the forests to the industrial plan- 

 ning program now under way. The forest resource should 

 be woven into the industrial pattern of each section of the 

 State. Such a program would mean greater income and 

 more stable social conditions. 



Since continuity of torest-land ownership is generally a 

 |irerequisite for sustained-yiekl forest management, State 

 tax laws and parish taxation policies should be examined 

 and where necessary revised to remove excessive burdens; 

 where the difficulty is inequitable administration of the 

 law, the taxation machinery shoulil be reorganized in onier 

 to assure proper application. The State should also strive 

 tor better observance of the property rights of private 

 forest-land owners, in order to reduce tin\ber theft, incendi- 

 arism, and other forms ot trespass and damage. 



The l"Vdcal Cioxcnunent should make increased 



appropriations for cooperative fire protection under the 

 Clarke-McNary Act, so as to contribute its share of the 

 fire-protection costs under an expanded program and 

 match increased outlays by the State and private owners. 



Federal financial and technical assistance to the exten- 

 sion agencies of the State should be continued and, if 

 possible, expanded. 



New administrative facilities should be established, or 

 the scope of present facilities extended, so that long-term 

 low-interest-bearing loans may be made to forest enter- 

 prises. 



Federal purchases of forest land should be continued, 

 mainly in areas where farm cropping tends to decline and 

 where soil or forest conditions make the opportunities tor 

 private forest management appear unattractive. 



Appropriations should be made tor research on problems 

 concerning hardwood forests, both in the Delta bottom 

 lands and on upland areas. About 1945, the Federal 

 Government should take a new inventory of the forest 

 resources, in cooperation with the State, to serve as a basis 

 for more detailed plans tor development ot the forest 

 resource. 



Definitions of Terms Used 



Throughout this report, statistics given are as of the 

 time of the field survey, 1934 35, unless otherwise specified. 

 The statistical tables appear as an appendix, beginning on 

 page 37. 



To facilitate a thorough understanding ot the forest 

 situation discussed, technical and unusual terms used are 

 defined, as follows: 



Area 



Lower South- States and parts ot States in the southern 

 I'orest Survey territory (fig. 2). 



ZjdkI Use Classes 



Productive forest land. — Forest land that has the qualities 

 essential for the growth of commercial timber. 



Konproductive forest land. — Forest land that di^s not 

 have all the qualities essential for the growrli ot ,-,.nimtT.' il 

 timber. 



Cultivated apicultural land. — Land being usc^i tor i.irn\ 

 or orchard crops, or showing evidence of having been so 

 used during the precceding 2 years. New cropland is cul- 

 tivated land coinortod from torests within 5 yo.irs prior to 

 survey. 



Idle agricultural land. — Cultivated land that has bctrn 

 idle tor 2 \ears or more but is not ciassititxl as abandoned. 



i 1 14-19 r.\- 



. t. 



