Inventory of the Alfred P. Mustian, Jr. Papers, 1907 – 1985

Descriptive Summary

Abstract: Alfred P. Mustian, Jr., was an employee of the United States Forest Service from 1950 until his retirement as deputy director of the Timber Management Staff in 1981.

The collection contains materials compiled by Alfred P. Mustian during his research for the 1989 booklet he co-authored with Sharon S. Young, Impacts of National Forests on the Forest Resources of the South. Includes largely statistical information on twentieth-century forest management issues relating to national forests in the southern United States (Region 8 in the National Forest System). Much of the data is recorded in management plans for the various forests, but there are also a number of tables, papers, and reports containing statistical information, as well. Topics covered include: acreages; allowable cut and cutting methods; commercial and noncommercial forests; expenditures and investments; forest ownership; growth and yield rates; reforestation and regeneration; timber sales; timber stand improvement; timber supply and volume; and tree diseases and mortality rates.

Title: Alfred P. Mustian, Jr. Papers, 1907 - 1985

Creator: Mustian, Alfred P., Jr.

Repository: Forest History Society Library and Archives

Call Number: 6453

Language of Material: Material in English

Extent: 1.5 linear feet (1 record carton)

Biographical Note

Alfred P. Mustian, Jr., was an employee of the U.S. Forest Service from 1950 until his retirement in 1981. Early in his career he worked in Alabama (1950-1951), Louisiana (1952-1954), and Florida (1955-1960). He was on the timber management staff for all of Region 8 during the early 1960s prior to his 1966 transfer to the Washington Office. Mustian worked in the Programs and Legislation division until 1972, when he joined the Timber Management Staff. He served as deputy director of that division from 1976 to 1981.

Collection Overview

The collection contains materials compiled by Alfred P. Mustian during his research for the 1989 booklet he co-authored with Sharon S. Young, Impacts of National Forests on the Forest Resources of the South. Includes largely statistical information on twentieth-century forest management issues relating to national forests in the southern United States (Region 8 in the National Forest System). Much of the data is recorded in management plans for the various forests, but there are also a number of tables, papers, and reports containing statistical information, as well. Topics covered include: acreages; allowable cut and cutting methods; commercial and noncommercial forests; expenditures and investments; forest ownership; growth and yield rates; reforestation and regeneration; timber sales; timber stand improvement; timber supply and volume; and tree diseases and mortality rates.

Collection Arrangement

1. Statistical Information and Other Research Materials, 1907-1985

Subject Headings

• Mustian, Alfred P., Jr.
• Forest management -- Southern states
• Forests and forestry -- Southern states -- Statistics
• Timber management -- Southern states
• United States. Forest Service -- Officials and employees

Detailed Description of the Collection

1. Statistical Information and Other Research Materials, 1907-1985.

• Folder 1
  Notes and Supporting Data, 1944-1985
  • Includes handwritten notes summarizing data on national forests; reports of the National Forest Reservation Commission; report of the U.S. Forest Service on land areas of the National Forest System; and statistics on forest regeneration, timber stand improvement, commercial timberland, administration of National Forests: tree improvement, timber cut and sold, and commercial timber sales.
• Folder 2
  Statistical Data, 1938-1965 and undated
  • Includes photocopies of tables showing data on forest regeneration, reforestation, and timber stand improvement for forests in the southern United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico; data on commercial timber sales for forests in the southern United States.
• Folder 3
  Statistical Data, 1918-1985
  • Includes U.S. Forest Service data sheet on ownership of commercial forest land by state and region (July 1946); statistics on acreage and expenditures on regeneration and timber stand improvement for U.S. national forests (1934-1982); data on the volume and value of timber cut on U.S. national forests (1923-1983); statistics on the area of timberland in U.S. regions and states (selected years, 1952-1985); data on softwood roundwood supplies (selected years, 1952-1984); photocopy of portions of National Forest Reservation Commission reports to Congress describing forests as a war asset, the use of woods harvested from national forests in airplane construction and in tanning, land purchases, fire protection, and forest management (for years 1918, 1923, 1930, 1935, 1940, 1942, 1945, 1952, 1960, and 1976); and a U.S. Forest report to regional foresters and station directors concerning reforestation and timber stand improvement (1984).
• Folder 4
  Statistical Data, 1910s-1985
  • Includes statistics as of 1945 on land use and land area of forests, total commercial forest area, volume of saw timber on commercial forest land, volume of softwoods and hardwoods on commercial forest land, ownership of commercial forest land, ownership of saw timber on commercial forest land, and annual growth rates; data on ownership and management of commercial timberland (selected years, 1952-1985); information on softwood roundwood supplies, timber removals, net annual growth rates, and inventory of softwood growing stock in southern states (selected years, 1952-1984); planting reports containing data on reforestation and timber stand improvement (1952, 1962, 1970, 1977, and 1985) and copies of timber management plans concerning methods of cutting for Region 8; U.S. Forest Service report to regional foresters and directors titled "Reforestation and Timber Stand Improvement Report for Fiscal year 1977"; and tables containing statistics on forest regeneration, planting and seeding, reforestation, and timber improvement measures accomplished under the Knutson-Vandenberg Act of June 1930 for fiscal years 1952, 1962, and 1970; statistics on acreages and wilderness areas in Region 8 national forests (n.d.); photocopied pages from USDA publications that contain information on the forest industries and resources of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina; data on allowable cut and harvests on national forests (1951-1973); data on the volume and value of timber cut and sold on national forests (1905-1947, 1948-1970, 1940-1977).
• Folder 5
  Statistics: National Forests: Alabama, 1913-1952
  • Includes policy statement and management plan for the Bankhead National Forest (1931); report by district ranger James R. Hughes, "Forest Resource Situation, Bankhead National Forest, for Period 1913-1952"; typed narrative summaries of information on Alabama national forests dated March 7, 1949.
• Folder 6
  Statistics: National Forests: Arkansas, Ouachita National Forest, 1907-1947 and 1960s-1980s
  • Includes summaries of timber management plans for Arkansas's Ouachita National Forest (1960s-1980s); statistics on volume and value of timber cut, growth rates, fire records, and expenditures and investments for Ouachita National Forest (1907-1947).
• Folder 7
  Statistics: National Forests: Arkansas, Ozark National Forest, 1930s-1970s
  • Includes copies of timber management plans, environmental statements, policy statements, and cutting budgets containing statistics on allowable cut, growth rates, mortality, species type, timber sales, timber trespass, and timber volume for Arkansas's Ozark National Forest.
• Folder 8
  Statistics: National Forests: Florida, circa 1940s and 1950s
  • Includes photocopies of portions of timber management plans relating to Florida national forests.
• Folder 9
  Statistics: National Forests: Georgia, 1938-1957 and 1962-1971
  • Includes photocopies of timber management plans for the Chattahoochee National Forest.
• Folder 10
  Statistics: National Forests: Mississippi, 1930s-1978
  • Includes paper by Mississippi national forests supervisor Ray M. Conarro titled "The Beginning: Recollections and Comments," which discusses the acquisition of national forest land in the state from 1933 to 1940; timber management plan for DeSoto National Forest (1961-1978); management plans and policy statements concerning timber management on Bienville National Forest (1938), DeSoto National Forest (1938, 1942), Homochitto National Forest (1937), and Holly Springs National Forest (1939); table listing data on acreage, timber volume, allowable cut, and volume cut for Mississippi national forests (1930s-1950s).
• Folder 11
  Statistics: National Forests: North Carolina, 1937-1965
  • Includes page from timber management plan for Pisgah National Forest (1955-1965); handwritten notes summarizing information about Pisgah National Forest; data on land type (commercial or non-commercial forest, non-forest land), species type, and volume cut in North Carolina's Croatan, Nantahala, and Pisgah national forests (1937-1951); photocopies of management plans for Pisgah (1951-1965) and Nantahala (1937) national forests.
• Folder 12
  Statistics: National Forests: South Carolina, undated
  • Includes brief historical narrative on land settlement, use of forests, and management of national forest land in South Carolina primarily during the twentieth century, but also during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; also, summary of data in timber management plans for South Carolina's Sumter and Francis Marion national forests.
• Folder 13
  Statistics: National Forests: Tennessee, 1938 and 1947-1962
  • Includes timber management planning reports for this Tennessee forest (1938) and cutting budget revisions (1947-1962).
• Folder 14
  Statistics: National Forests: Texas, 1937-1965
  • Includes timber management plans, policy statements, and cutting budgets for Angelina National Forest, Davy Crockett National Forest, Sabine National Forest, Sam Houston National Forest.
• Folder 15
  Statistics: National Forests: Texas, 1930s-1970s
  • Includes copies of timber management plans containing data on timber stand improvement work, cutting methods, inventory methods, tree diseases, wildlife conservation, Civilian Conservation Corps forestry work and timber surveys for national forests in the southern United States, especially Angelina National Forest in Texas, Fort Benning Military Reservation in Georgia, Sam Houston National Forest in Texas, and forests in the Southern Appalachian region.
• Folder 16
  Statistics: National Forests: Virginia, George Washington National Forest, 1910s-1970s
  • Includes summary reports of timber management plans for the George Washington National Forest in Virginia.
• Folder 17
  Statistics: National Forests: Virginia, Jefferson National Forest, 1941-1984
  • Includes copy and summary of timber management plan detailing timber species, timber volume, allowable cut, and commercial and noncommercial forest land on Virginia's Jefferson National Forest (1941-1950); background history of Jefferson National Forest; data on land acquisition for Jefferson National Forest (1966, 1973, 1980, 1984).
• Folder 18
  Presentations: Junior Foresters' Conference, May 1949
  • Includes talks delivered at the May 1949 Junior Foresters' Conference: "Timber Management" by P. H. Bryan; "Fire Control" by A. W. Hartman;" Private Forest Management" by E. T. Hawes; "Forest Service Objectives and Philosophies" by J. Herbert Stone; "National Forest: Organization and Functions" by Paul A. Swarthout.
• Folder 19
  Reports: Growth and Yield Rates, 1964-1984
  • Includes published reports by U.S. Forest Service experiment stations, forestry schools, state forestry commissions, and the North Carolina Forest Service containing data on growth and yield rates, primarily for southern pines (1964, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1984).
• Folder 20-22
  Reports: Forest and Timber Topics, 1940-1982
  • Includes reports produced chiefly by government agencies on various forest and timber topics.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Copyright Notice

The nature of the Forest History Society's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Forest History Society claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Alfred P. Mustian, Jr. Papers, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Alfred P. Mustian in January 1997.

Processing Information

Processed by Michele Justice, March 1997

Encoded by Amanda Ross, March 2009

Funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission supported the encoding of this finding aid. Support for digitization and outreach provided by the Alvin J. Huss Endowment.