| OCR Text |
Show either maintain country residences or keep the land for recreational purposes. Farm production can be expanded only by in- creased efficiency in farming methods, as most of the productive land already is in use. Of the 1,670,- 000 acres of farm land in the basin, 675,000 should remain in crops and rotation hay; hay land should increase from 110,000 to 165,000 acres; and pasture should decrease from 675,000 to 524,000 acres. Forest should be increased by 205,000 acres to 5,030,000 acres, or to about 70 percent of the basin's area. The status of land in the Connecticut Basin is summarized in the following tabulation: Source: Department of Agriculture. Forestry Lumber production in the Connecticut Basin reached its peak in 1908, declined steadily until the 1930's, and substantially revived during the 1940's. Increased cutting during World War II again depleted the stands. Recent production trends have been downward. Several important wood-using industries contrib- ute much to the industrial employment in the northern section of the basin. Current direct employment in the timber-based industry is probably about 20,000 and the annual payrolls are between 25 million and 30 million dol- lars. The value of the finished products is ap- proximately 200 million dollars. The ownership of timber lands is widely dis- persed. Much of the forest is composed of very poor stands, the result of overcutting, repeated cut- ting, and fire. Present annual timber growth is es- timated to be only about 40 percent of what could be sustained under reasonably good management. When it is appreciated that nearly all of this land is not suitable for agriculture and that forest lands make up 67 percent of the total land area, the vital importance of better forest management to the econ- omy of the Connecticut Basin is apparent. Since 70 percent of the total water yield of the basin orig- inates on forest lands, good forest management is of vital importance to water use programs in the basin. Mining Except for building stone, road material, sand, and gravel, few mineral deposits of commercial im- portance are known in the basin. A locally impor- tant copper deposit now is being worked at South Strafford, Vt. Unless further discoveries of unsus- pected deposits are made, there appears to be little prospect for any important expansion of the industry. 470 aaSEBd Peroent Urban, roads, water, and other similar uses........_____________________ . 685 10 Open farm land___......._________..... 1,670 33 Cultivated crops_____....._________ 759 10 Hay land........._________________ 110 2 Pasture____........._______________ 675 9 Idle or other.............______....... .¦ 126 ===== 2 Forest land____........................... 4.780 67 Farm woodland...............-....... 1,717 24 Industrial and other................... 2,442 34 Total privately owned forest........ 4,159 58 National forest........................ 295 4 State, town, and municipal............ 326 5 Total ptLblicly owned forest......... 621 9 Total, all lands...................... 7,135 100 |
