Emerging resource trends in the 80'S
Nothing is more universally expected of a forestry agency than that it be able to plant and grow high-quality trees. Our future timber supply is directly connected to the sufficiency of our reforestation effort. Most other values of the forest-wildlife, water supply, beauty--are connected with adequate forest cover. So, it is appropriate that we are commemorating the Forest Service's 75th anniversary with a tree-planting campaign. You know the trends as described in our RPA Assessment--more people, more disposable income, more leisure time, and greater demands on the forests. These trends have already shaped nursery management--there are more nurseries, larger nurseries, more seed sources, speeded-up seedling production, and more sophisticated cultural practices. It is gratifying to look at the nurseries developed in the past two decades--much progress has been made in nursery practices. This progress is one of the key ingredients to the gains we have made in long-term forest growth. But, more must be done if we are to meet the demands continuing to press on public and private forest lands alike. First, the demand for high quality planting stock will continue to grow. A recent legislative expression of our concern for reforestation is the NFMA's requirement that we budget to eliminate the feasible reforestation backlog on National forests by 1985. By October of 1979, we had reduced the backlog from 3.1 million acres to 882,000 acres--half by actual reforestation, a quarter by land reclassification, and a quarter through natural regeneration. Of this remainder, it is feasible to reforest about 566,000 acres and the proposed budget level for 1981 is sufficient to stay on the schedule of removing this backlog by 1985 if adequate funds are provided in future years. In all cases, we will need first-rate planting stock.
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Author(s): R. Max Peterson
Publication: National Nursery Proceedings - 1980
Event:
Intermountain Nurseryman's Association and Western Forest Nursery Association
1980 - Boise, ID
