Florida National Forests

Since Florida was the only Southern State east of the Mississippi River that had any large tracts of public domain when the national-forest system was established, it was the first State in the Southeast to have a national forest.

From the public domain lands, President Theodore Roosevelt in November 1908 proclaimed the western division, the Choctawhatchee National Forest, and the eastern division, the Ocala National Forest. During the administration of President Taft in 1911, these areas were combined under the designation of the Florida National Forest. Even though these areas belonged to the public domain, they had not been immune to the lumbermen's ax or to the carelessly tossed match. Wasteful cutting and unrestrained burning had exacted their toll; and when the areas were placed under the administration of the United States Forest Service, they contained large tracts of privately owned cut-over lands, justly called "idle acres."

The insistent demand of far-sighted conservationists brought about the passage of the Clarke-McNary Act in 1924, which amended the Weeks' law of 1911 and authorized the Government to acquire and put under administration as demonstration areas lands that were most valuable for producing timber. Under this authorization, the Forest Service bought waste land and began a system of development and restoration to redeem it.

THE RESULTS OF NEGLIGENT HARVESTING FOLLOWED BY REPEATED FIRES F—250492

RESULTS OBTAINED WHEN ADEQUATE SEED TREES ARE LEFT AND FIRE PROTECTION PROVIDED F—313001

A demonstration forest large enough to insure economical administration was needed in the South Atlantic and Gulf coast region. The Forest Service, therefore, established a purchase unit in northeast Florida in 1929, which was proclaimed the Osceola National Forest by President Hoover in 1931. Another area was selected for the same purpose in 1933, near the Gulf coast of Florida. It was proclaimed the Apalachicola National Forest by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. The present net area owned by Uncle Sam in the four Florida national forests is approximately 1,600,000 acres. Since these forests are widely separated and lack definite relation to each other, they are described separately in following pages of this booklet.

The national forests are the property of the people of the United States, and the United States Forest Service officials are the guardians and managers of this property. It is the policy of the Forest Service to look beyond the production of timber and wood products as the forests' reason for existence. Every effort is made to perpetuate the forest resources and to coordinate their uses so that the management of none shall interfere with another. In administering these Federal areas, the first concern of the Forest Service is how they can be best managed to fit most usefully into our national economy; how they can be used to supply jobs for surplus labor, and how they can provide outdoor recreation and form the background of permanent community life.

When a national forest is acquired, detailed surveys are made to determine the amount of lumber and other timber products that are on it, the quality of the timber, and the rate of growth. This information is compiled and used to formulate a definite plan for management of the forest, and for development of each particular area for the purpose it can best serve. A protection and improvement system is planned and inaugurated. Roads, firebreaks, and telephone lines are constructed, and lookout towers and guard stations are built where they will be most valuable. The actual work of putting the management plan into effect is then started. This may consist of planting cut-over areas, thinning and improving timber stands, conducting timber sales, developing recreation areas, and improving wildlife conditions.

BENEFITS TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES

When forest products on the national forests are ready for sale, they are appraised, advertised, and sold to the highest bidder. Money received for these forest products is paid to the Treasurer of the United States. Out of every dollar received, 25 cents is returned to the counties in which the forest lies in lieu of taxes, to be used for schools and roads. In addition, the Forest Service is obligated to spend an additional 10 percent of these receipts for the improvement of roads in the forest. Total net receipts from the four Florida national forests for the fiscal year 1937 were $99,104.17. This return to the counties was approximately 10-1/2 cents per acre, an amount which exceeds the tax rate for land in these counties. The net income for the Osceola National Forest during this period was $64,900, of which the forest counties received $16,225. The returns from the Osceola were larger than on any of the other three Florida forests because it contains the largest amount of merchantable timber and has more accessible markets. Florida national forests are assuming their proper place in the communities in which they are located. They not only are affording direct revenue to the counties, but are furnishing work to local communities. For instance, there are approximately 500 families in and adjacent to the Osceola forest which are obtaining their livelihood by harvesting national forest timber for naval stores, saw timber, and other products.

WORKING PINES FOR NAVAL STORES

FOR decades yellow pine, cypress, and hardwood timber, and naval stores from Florida's forests have poured a golden stream into the channels of the world's commerce. In north Florida every county and nearly every town and hamlet has its turpentine orchards and stills. This area lies within that region of the Southeast which contains three-fourths of the naval stores industry in the United States and produces approximately 85 percent of all the gum naval stores used in this country, and over half of the world's supply.

The first naval stores sale on a national forest was made on the Choctawhatchee National Forest in 1910. Since then better practices and more efficient management of lands for naval stores production have been developed on the national forests and elsewhere, especially on the Osceola National Forest.

Naval stores are produced from slash (Pinus caribaea) and longleaf (Pinus palustris) pines. When these trees are wounded or chipped, they exude a resinous gum to aid in healing the scar and to prevent insect attack. Man has taken advantage of this and systematically chips the trees and collects the gum by means of cups and gutters. Each week, except during the winter months, a V-shaped streak, not more than five-eighths inch deep and one-half inch high, is cut on the upper side of the "face," which is the scarred area covering one-third of the circumference of the tree. Every 2 to 4 weeks the gum which has flowed into the cup is collected and taken to a still. This collecting process is called "dipping." At the still, the gum is distilled into turpentine and rosin. Turpentine is used in the manufacture of paints, varnishes, shoe polish, leather dressing, oils, greases, linoleum, oilcloth, roofing, and the like. Rosin is used in the manufacture of paper, size, soap, paints, varnishes, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, matches, etc.

A TYPICAL STAND OF FLORIDA SLASH PINE F—165381

COLLECTING GUM TO BE TAKEN TO A TURPENTINE STILL F—165320

A TURPENTINE STILL, WHERE THE CRUDE GUM IS DISTILLED INTO TURPENTINE AND ROSIN F—165306

In the early days the resinous gum was cooked into pitch and used in the building and repair of ships, and the traditional name of "naval stores" has never been lost.

The longleaf and slash pines are referred to as dual-purpose trees, because after being "worked out" for naval stores they may be cut into sawlogs, poles, pulpwood, and other forest products. Even after longleaf pine has been dead a long time it is still valuable. The rich stumps and knots are converted into turpentine, rosin, and wallboard by the steam solvent process. Destructive distillation processes produce wood turpentine, pine oils, pine tar, wood acetate, and charcoal.

PRODUCING TIMBER AS A CROP

On national forests the Government manages timber as a crop and the land is made to produce a steady, permanent income. The Forest Service believes that the future of any region depends in a large part upon the way its forest lands are managed. Timber, like other crops, can be made to yield regularly when managed in accord with known sciences and methods, and forest lands may be so handled that they will always contribute to the permanent support of their fair share of the country's population.

DIPPING RESIN INTO BARRELS FOR COOLING AND SHIPMENT TO THE RESIN YARD F—226771

SELECTIVE CUTTING ASSURES A CONTINUOUS SUPPLY OF TIMBER FOR WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES. PULPWOOD CUTTINGS CAN BE COMBINED WITH THE GROWING OF PRODUCTS OP A HIGHER VALUE F—351086

On the Florida national forests, as on all national forests, when timber is mature and ready to cut, or when it should come out in thinnings, it is sold. In fact, the timber is handled just as the farmer handles his crops. It is harvested when ripe—the only difference is that it takes much longer to grow pulpwood, sawlogs, or trees suitable for turpentining than it does to grow a crop of corn or cotton.

Good forestry practice on private lands calls for a similar common-sense policy of handling timber, instead of regarding it as a mine. Forest lands properly managed should provide a permanent and constant supply of timber, based upon the productive capacity of the soil. Such management involves protection from fire and protection against the old "cut-out-and get-out" policy, which has reduced the country's forest wealth to a mere remnant and left a toll of millions of acres of unproductive wasteland. It uses such methods of cutting as will damage young growth as little as possible. It insures future crops either by leaving sufficient growing stock, or seed trees, or by planting where it is necessary to do so.

"Sustained yield management" is the term which foresters apply to this plan of managing timber. Under this method, in Florida forests, no more than the current growth of timber will be cut over a given period. The forests are exactly like money in the bank. The wise owner will consider his timberlands as a capital investment and the annual growth will represent the yearly interest on this investment. When annual growth replaces annual harvest, the forest capital is not depleted. But, in trees as in money, if one uses more than the interest income, he dips into the deposit and reduces its earning power.

RECREATION USE AND DEVELOPMENT

The multiple-use administration of the national forests aims to protect, to improve, and to put to work their renewable resources in a way which will yield the greatest good to the public as a whole. One of the purposes of such administration is to provide millions of Americans with places in which to spend some of their leisure.

The national forests include some of the finest scenic areas in the country and offer exceptional recreation opportunities. The recreation resources, like the timber resources, are conserved and managed so as to yield a return in usefulness. Human welfare is the basic aim of conservation, and recognizing the vital relation of health and efficiency to proper outdoor recreation, the Forest Service considers the development of recreation opportunities a major objective of its program.

A SCENE AT JUNIPER SPRINGS, THE OUTSTANDING RECREATION DEVELOPMENT ON THE FLORIDA NATIONAL FORESTS F—370106

Each year sees an enormous increase in the number of persons using the national forests for summer vacations, week-ends, and holiday trips. Forest Service figures show that in 1937 more than 30,000,000 persons used the national forests of the country for picnicking, camping, motoring, horseback riding, and hiking, primarily to enjoy scenery and the cool forest environment.

In Florida, the trek to the forests is year long. Some of the most beautiful spots in the State are in the national forests where every type of forest and swampland is represented, from the low timbered flatwoods, the deep jungle-like swamps, and the broad expanses of grasslands in the Osceola and the Apalachicola units, to the rolling sandy oak-covered bluffs of the Choctawhatchee, and the gigantic flattened pine-clad dunes and the hammock-bordered springs and ponds of the Ocala. Juniper Springs recreation area on the Ocala Forest, which is the outstanding development on the Florida forests, had more than 36,000 Visitors during the first year after its establishment. These visitors came from 48 States, Canada, Alaska, other territories, and foreign countries, even from such distant points as Finland, Korea, India, and Australia.

In this scenic region, the Forest Service has developed many picnic areas and campgrounds with fireplaces for broiling steak and making coffee. There are playground facilities for children and parking spaces for automobiles, water that is safe for drinking, and plenty of sturdy picnic tables and benches. The roads and trails, which the Forest Service has constructed with the aid of the C. C. C. as a means of protecting and administering the forests, make the recreation areas easily accessible to visitors. The program of recreation development on the four Florida national forests calls for the construction of 93 areas over a long-time program covering the next 20 years. These will include hunting and fishing camps, organization camps, picnic grounds, and areas for tent and trailer camping. It is the aim to keep recreation in national forests simple and democratic.

The presence in the national forests of tremendous numbers of visitors creates potential hazards to health and property. Many campers in the woods mean many campfires, and the hazards to timber from this and other incidental menaces are obvious. This problem is one of the reasons why the United States Forest Service has provided designated camping spots with fireplaces and stoves for campfires. It has sought to induce voluntary concentration of visitors where hazards of health and property are reduced to a minimum by the provision of adequate facilities for sanitation and care with fire. In the use of the recreation facilities the only conditions imposed upon the users are that they abide by camping regulations posted in each area.

WILDLIFE AND ITS MANAGEMENT

The national forests are the home of a large part of the wildlife in the United States and furnish one of its major refuges. Wildlife, both fish and game, is a forest resource of outstanding aesthetic and economic value, and its conservation receives full consideration, along with timber and other resources, as an objective of forest management. It is both renewable and recreational, and has a distinct place in national forest planning, which follows the principle of multiple-use. This term simply means the integrated development of all national-forest resources, according to the relative importance of each resource.

Florida, with a coast line of 472 miles on the Atlantic side and 674 miles on the Gulf, its thousands of lakes and rivers, and its huge expanse of woodlands, is potentially a sportsman's paradise. Continued ravages of fire previous to Federal and State fire-protection measures, the wasteful destruction of game animals, and the lack of regulation or planning in the past have caused the supply of game to be seriously depleted, but work is under way to improve fish and game conditions.

ONE OF THE MANY STREAMS INVITING THE FISHERMAN F—165333

IN THE DEPTHS OP THE OCALA GAME REFUGE F—300808

Wildlife in the Florida national forests is gradually being built up by the Forest Service, which plans to stock these areas to their carrying capacity. This will necessitate protection and closure of some areas for a limited period. Under protection and with a good food supply, animals multiply rapidly, and the problem arises as to how to maintain a natural balance between the game and the forage upon which it lives. Management must make the adjustments necessary to protect both game and forage. The logical way to do this is to permit hunting on a planned scale. This the Forest Service does in cooperation with the United States Biological Survey and the State game departments, by opening adequately restocked areas to regulated hunting long enough to take the annual yield.

The Southern Regional office of the Forest Service, in cooperation with the States, has devised a system of stable wildlife management with an ultimate goal of wildlife utilization. It consists of an agreement between the game department of the State concerned and the United States Forest Service. Such an agreement has recently been entered into by the Forest Service and the Florida Commission of Game and Fresh Water Fish, which marks the beginning of a program of wildlife restoration and management on the national forests in Florida. Under this agreement the supply of game will be increased, public hunting grounds will be developed and maintained, streams will be restocked with fish, and the areas will serve as experimental demonstrations in game management. This will assure the citizens of Florida a renewable yield of wildlife and the recreational enjoyments of hunting and fishing.

The wildlife species to be developed on the forests are white-tailed deer, black bear, squirrel, other fur bearers, and turkey, and such fish as large-mouthed black bass and other warm-water species indigenous to the lakes. Control of predatory animal and fish species, such as bobcat and garfish, will be important phases of the management plan.

Hunting and fishing within the forests' limits is governed by State laws, and hunting, fishing, and trapping is allowed in the Federal game refuges only under special conditions. These refuges were selected principally because they contain various species of game and are especially adapted to scientific management. It is planned that the overflow from the areas will eventually restock the surrounding territory, thus assuring a continuous supply of game for sportsmen. The refuges will also be a source of interest and pleasure to persons who derive their enjoyment from observing the wild animals in their natural habitat and who do their shooting with cameras.