by plantation care, pruning, weeding, thinning, release cutting, reinforcement planting of lightly stocked areas, and planting new burns in these stands. Water Resources In continuing their role as regulator of waterflows, national-forest watersheds will continue to be managed in accord with two principal long-range objectives: (a) Protection of the watershed by stabilizing the soil and thereby preserving and improving water quality; and (b) management of the area to increase the quantity of water. Protection of the watershed and water quality will continue to be a primary objective. Quantity of water yielded will receive major consideration in the multiple-use management of national forests. To accomplish these objectives, an accelerated program of watershed management, rehabilitation, and protection will need to be carried out, including the application of new methods and practices as they are developed and proved. Program proposals for the short-term period include 1. More intensive management activities to assure full protection of the hydrologic condition of watersheds in the management and use of other resources. Management plans for other resources that involve manipulation of plant cover will adequately consider watershed management needs. An accelerated program of watershed management, rehabilitation, and protection needs to 41258 0-59-18 be carried out 2. Reasonable protection to, and minimizing damage from the greatly increasing number of water development projects in and adjacent to the national-forest system. 3. Preparing and maintaining watershed management plans for areas which are the sole or major source of municipal water supplies. 4. Initiating field inventories of water supplies and yield with comparative data as to effects on water yield and quality of range, timber, and other uses and management practices. 5. Complete soil surveys on about 33 million acres, or 22 percent of the total area in need of survey. 6. Watershed rehabilitation measures to stabilize gullies and channels, control sheet erosion, stabilize dunes and earth slides, control erosion on roads and trails, and accomplish water spreading will be done in varying degrees ranging from one-tenth to one-third of the total work needed. Work scheduled includes 10,000 miles of gully and channel stabilization; 1.3 million acres of sheet erosion control; 20,000 acres of dune and blowout stabilization; erosion control on 14,000 miles of substandard roads and trails; 5,600 acres of water spreading; 535 structures for flood prevention; and 170 stream pollution control projects. Range Resources The development and management of the 68 million acres of rangeland in the national-forest system has two major long-range objectives: (a) Proper stocking and improvement of the range resource to achieve desirable watershed conditions and sustained high-level production of forage. Over many years the Forest Service has attempted to bring livestock numbers into balance with available forage. This is being done by building up forage production through reseeding, other range-improvement measures, and better management. Where this is not sufficient, necessary adjustments to grazing capacity have been made in either numbers of permitted livestock or season of use. (b) Making lands suitable for livestock grazing available for use under conditions that promote stability for communities and individuals, and encourage full development of the range resource with due regard to other resources and uses. These policies can be furthered by intensifying management of all range allotments; obtaining and maintaining desirable forage to high capacity; constructing, rehabilitating, and maintaining range improvements needed to attain intensive management on all ranges; and making adjustments in numbers of livestock or seasons of use when necessary. Proper use and full development of range resources will promote stability for individuals and communities In order to make substantial progress toward the long-range objectives, the short-term program proposals are 1. Complete and thereafter keep current range analyses and management plans on all range allotments. 2. Where stocking adjustments are necessary to balance utilization and available forage, these will be carried out as rapidly as practicable bearing in mind the needs of the range and other factors. 3. Separation of cattle and sheep grazing on common use areas, and substantial reduction of livestock trespass. 4. Properly coordinate all range use with other resource use. 5. Revegetation and control of noxious or poisonous range plants and farm weeds will be undertaken on about 4.4 million acres of rangelands needing one or both treatments. 6. Reconstruction or rehabilitation of presently deteriorated range improvements will be completed; other improvements will be maintained. 7. Construct 18,000 miles of fences and 9,500 water developments to initiate programs of intensive range management for control of livestock and more efficient use of forage. Recreation and Wildlife Habitat Resources As previously described, the growth and development of the Nation already has had a terrific impact on the national forests in increased use of the recreation and wildlife habitat resources. It is estimated that these uses will rise from the 68.5 million recreation visits of 1958 to 130 million visits by 1969, with a continued rapid annual increase to a possible 600 million visits by the year 2000. This expected increase to nearly double the present use by 1969 and about nine times the present use by the year 2000 is far in excess of the expected rate of increase in population. Increasing demands are being made on national-forest recreation and fish and wildlife resources The long-range objective is that: (a) National-forest recreation resources will be so developed and managed that the kind, quality, and quantity of their development and maintenance will be sufficient to keep abreast of this tremendously increased demand; and (b) the wildlife habitat will yield a fish and game population adequate to meet the equally tremendous increase in sportsman use. The program proposals for the short-term period are 1. Complete "Part 1 of Operation Outdoors," which is a 5-year program initiated in 1957 to reconstruct and rehabilitate the then existing recreation facilities consisting of 4,700 campgrounds and picnic sites containing 42,400 family units, construct additional facilities, and adequately maintain and service these facilities to meet the existing and predicted situation. 2. Complete inventory and evaluation of recreation and wildlife habitat resources. This will be done partly in cooperation with the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, and with respect to wildlife habitat resources, in cooperation with the States. 3. Revise and complete recreation management plans for all administrative units and thereafter keep them current. 4. Prepare and execute development plans on 10,000 new campground and picnic sites containing 102,000 family units. 5. Repair and reconstruct dams and spillways as necessary in order to place them in a safe condition for recreational use. 6. Provide adequate sanitation, cleanup, safe water, fire prevention, and public safety at all developed recreation sites and in heavily used unimproved areas. 7. Protect and manage wilderness-type, roadside, and other special areas. 8. Review at least 30 of the remaining 41 primitive areas as to their wilderness characteristics and reclassify them accordingly. 9. Revise and complete wildlife habitat management plans for all administrative units, assuring proper coordination between uses of wildlife habitat resources and other resources. 10. Participate in planning, inspection, and control phases of all habitat improvement projects conducted on lands of the nationalforest system by States and by other Federal agencies to insure that the projects will benefit wildlife and be in harmony with other resource values. 11. Improve food and cover on 1.5 million acres of key wildlife areas. 12. Develop wildlife openings, food patches, and game walkways in dense vegetation by clearing or controlled burning on about a half million acres. 13. Improve 7,000 miles of the 81,000 miles of fishing streams and 56,000 acres of lakes by stabilizing banks, planting streamside cover, and constructing channel improvements. Protection The total adverse impact of disease, insects, fire, weather, destructive animals, and other forces on the uses and values of forest resources is not generally recognized. They kill and destroy, retard or |