• Stairs, Dr Gerald R.
  Duke University
  

The state of Maine is blessed with an abundance of renewable resources; the people of Maine have made thrifty and excellent use of natural heritages like forestry, agriculture, and fisheries. Nevertheless, as a resources limited world moves into the 1980's there will be in Maine as in the world-at-large new reason to further develop wise practices of conservation and utilization. The most careful stewardship will be required in attending the difficult task of balancing the productive capability of lands and oceans with man's demands for food and fiber.

The forests of Maine represent the largest sector in the renewable natural resources base. Covering some 90 percent of the state, the forest lands have long provided a major foundation for the state's economy. recent figures indicate that the pulp and paper industry, along with the wood products industries in Maine, account for about 40 percent of the net sales value for manufactured goods. Most of these sales represent purchases from outside the State and thus new money for the state's economy. Nearly a third of the state's manufacturing workers are employed in forest based industries. Forest Products from Maine make a major contribution to the total U.S. demand for wood and fiber.