Treesearch

I once heard it said that if you want to know how something was organized, ask a man who had nothing to do with it. I suspect this may be one of the reasons I was asked to collaborate on this report of the development of the New England Spruce-Fir Seed Orchard Program.

The following remarks are primarily an account of the experience of the Texas Forest Service in organizing the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program (WGFTIP) and the philosophy that went into its devetopment. The program of the Texas Forest Service has had two very distinct phases, although in both phases it was a cooperative effort. The initial phase lasted from the organization of the program in 1951 until the middle 1960's. Initially the program was supported by a combination of State and industrial funds, with the State of Texas providing the lion's share of the cost, but with...

To set the stage for my remarks, I would like to tell a story I recently heard. The top management of a large corporation has just ordered installed two IBM machines in the accounting department. Two middle-aged men - the office manager and his assistant - received the news with some misgivings. They felt that things were progressing well in their office; the accounting was being done adequately at an acceptable cost by a room full of attractive secretaries. As these men viewed the attractive labor force, the manager was overheard to remark to his assistant, "Do we really want to replace...

The Lake States provenance test of jack pine was started by Paul Rudolf of the USDA Forest Service in 1951. That marked the beginning of two decades of serious tree improvement research in the region. In this paper I shall recount some of the progress that has been made. But it is also necessary to consider the extent to which genetic improvements have been put to practical use. We cannot expect continued research support without providing evidence that better trees are being planted because of our efforts.

In the Lake States, aspens are now growing towards senility Faster than they are being harvested (Groff 1966). In the Central States, wood processing residues have recently supplied about one-half of the area's hardwood fiber requirement (Blyth 1970), thus allowing hardwood growing stock to continue its recuperation. In fact, the national hardwood fiber supply situation is improving (Hair and Spada 1970). However, a growth deficit is expected by the year 2000, given current management levels and "expected" demands. Josephson (1971) foresees about another decade of adequate fiber supply....

Forest tree improvement is a form of technological change, and it should be viewed as such. The economic objective of technological change is to increase productivity per dollar invested. This is accomplished through selection and breeding for increased growth rates or reduced losses to insects and disease. Programs which yield improved planting stock make forest investments more profitable by reducing initial costs. The empirical evidence to date (e.g., Davis 1967, Lundgren and King 1965) indicates that investments in forest tree improvement can and do pay off, sometimes rather well.

It is an honor and a pleasure to make the initial presentation at this Tree Improvement Conference. I plan to cover the "future of fiber production in the north-central States" by confining my remarks to three major issues: (1) the potentials for expansion, (2) factors that may inhibit growth, and (3) changes in policies and procedures required.

Editor's note: The morning's presentations were discussed during the afternoon by three groups, each group discussing one of the morning's three topics. Summaries of the discussions, prepared by the discussion leaders, follow.

I feel a bit like the onion in the petunia patch today. Here I am, a professional timber beast, trying to tell a bunch of geneticists how to run their genes. However, I do believe that the practical success of the forest geneticists' work is dependent not just on their abilities, but also partly on someone else's knowledge of the real need for tree improvement. So, we will try to pass on to you people some of the understanding that we butchers have for wood markets and availability, both today and to some degree in the near future. Particularly, we will concentrate on the coniferous species.

Results of a field canvass of all known primary wood manufacturers that operated in Delaware and New Jersey in 1970. The industrial wood statistics are compared with previous surveys and important trends in industry development are noted. Total roundwood output was down 31 percent in Delaware since 1956 and down 43 percent in New Jersey since 1955.