UNITED^STATES 

 D'EPARITMENT 

 OP AGRICULTURE 



m¥ ORM atTo 



^^C 93 



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T7ITK UiTCLS SAIvI'S TulTUMLISTS. 



Frida^-,. January 2, 193!L. 



AITrOUI^'CS.'SITI : We are back in the woods with our V/ildsman toda^%. He has 

 been having a heart-of-the-woods talk with some of Uncle Sam's naturalists 

 of "he United States Department of Agriculture, or rather that branch of 



the Department knovm as the United States Forest Service. All right, 



Mr. Wildsraan? 



I just wonder what we icnow about our own woods. Some of us ;oride 

 ourselves on our woodscraft. Some of you, of co'jxse, have a pretty good 

 idea of the woods thro"'agli which you hunt, or hike, or v/ork. 



Sut I must confess, there is a lot I don't "^oaow about even the 

 trees that go to malce up the v/oods through which I've been tramping for 

 years. Just how much timber of the different kinds are in those woods? 

 Hov/ fast does each kind grov/? I doubt if the men who own those particular 

 woods l^niow any more than I do about them. 



I just mention that by way of illustration. I don't feel bad about 

 it, because Mr. C. K, Granger, of the United States Forest Service tells me 

 that even our timbermen and foresters can't ansv/er those kind of questions 

 about all the forests in our co\intry. 



T7e talk glibly about our forest and farm v/oods resources being thus 

 and so. But when you got right dovm to it, nobody really knows what the 

 forest resources of tlie United States are. The rate of growth of the 

 different kinds of trees in different parts of the country, the condition 

 of the young grov/th, the losses from insect ejid disease attacks, are all 

 questions largely \ananswered. 



True, we do have some general estimates. Yet those are little 

 more than expert guesses in most cases. 



Often Y/e hear statements nade about how much we are cutting compared 

 to how much we are grow-ing. And in some regions, that - ov/n pretty well. 

 Private timber ov/ners and lumbermen have made cruises of th.:;ir forest hold- 

 ings for their own useo States in some cases have made soi" ;e rs. The 

 Federal r,overnment has a lot of data about oui' national forests. But there is 

 no plsice you can now go to get all that information about all our forests 

 and fam woods. That is the reason for the forest survey now being made 

 by the U. S. Forest Service. Hr. Granger, who is in charge of the Forest 

 Survey was giving me some striking facts about the scope and value of that 

 survey. 



It is designed to get for us the first con^plete auid accurate picture 

 ever had of our forest situation and forest needs of this nation of o-ors. 



