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36 BULLETIN 1493, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
TECHNICAL PLAN OF MANAGEMENT 
An owner undertaking to handle a tract of forest for continuous ‘ 
timber production and for getting the maximum returns from the 
land should make a systematic plan of management, based on tech- 
nical studies of the property. The land itself should first be classi- 
fied, in order that each acre may be devoted to its ultimate highest € 
use, the agricultural land to be sold for that purpose and the forest 
land to be held for timber growing. It is next important that he 
know what continuous sustained production the forest land is capable 
of yielding decade by decade. To this end the tract should be cruised 
and an inventory made of the present growing s stock, both virgin and 
immature. Studies of growth should be made to determine the 
yield possibilities of each watershed, and thereby enable the owner 
to make his financial plans for the permanent operation of the prop- 
erty. Probably a good topographic and type map should be made 
to assist In carrying out the orderly exploitation of the crop and asa 
graphic basis for preparing the management plan. 
The management plan ‘should point out what paris of the stand 
should be cut first, because of the an, or marketability of the 
timber, and what areas should await better utilization. In prescrib- 
ing an orderly logging peOgTaM consideration should also be given 
from the engineering view point to laying out the operation in such 
a way that the tract may be given the best protection against fire. a 
A well-thought-out scheme for fire control may well be a definite | 
part of the managem ent plan. 
On the national forests, management plans are being prepared © 
as fast as watersheds or working circles are brought under intensive 
use. They are equally 3 important for private holdings. The nature 
of such plans will vary with the size and character of the particular 
tracts, and the desires of the owners. ‘Their preparation is a task 
wherein experts trained for this sort of work are needed. 
DIRECT PROTECTION AGAINST FIRE 
The requirements for protection against fire are of necessity set 
so high for minimum practice that the same requirements ought to 
give results satisfactory for intensive forest management. In both 
instances the system is gauged to prevent man-caused fires and to 
stop ali fires that do start before they become serious. In fire control 
there should be no halfway measures. The present cooperative 
system of forest protection for the region at large needs strengthening 
along the lines already suggested. If this is done and fire is con- 
trolled during logging, present investments can enjoy the reasonable 
security against fire which is necessary to give the growing of con- 
tinuous crops of timber economic stability. Many specific precau- 
tions have been recommended for logging operations. If ail of 
these are enforced to the letter the great curse of timber growing— 
fire escaping from slash-burning and logging operations—should 
be removed. 
Other precautions might be suggested for certam cases. For 
example it may be both necessary and expedient on some large tracts 
to wholly exclude the public during the fire season. If the risk of 
fires from campers, fishermen, hunters, 2 and berry pickers can not be 
controlled in any other ws ay, the timber owner must have recourse 
