364 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



present or prospective, which in turn pro- 

 mote or protect navigation of the stream, 

 and whether, if navigable only on its tidal 

 basin, headwater protection from either 

 flow fluctuation or silt contribution would 

 promote or protect such navigability. 



The field examinations of the Geological 

 Survey will be hydrographic, geologic and 

 topographic, and will include the determi- 

 nation of the relation of the headwater 

 streams to the navigable stream to which 

 they are tributary, to which general exami- 

 nation must be joined the local observation 

 of the headwater stream or streams drain- 

 ing the tract in question, with reference to 

 runoff characteristics and to nature and 

 amount of suspended material; the classifi- 

 cation of the surface formations of the 

 tract, with reference to permeability and 

 storage capacity and to resistance to 

 erosion, and the securing of such additional 

 topographic data In cooperation with the 

 Forest Service as are needed by the two 

 bureaus in their examination of the tract. 

 All of these inquiries, however, are planned 

 with the sole intention of enabling the 

 Geological Survey to determine the funda- 

 mental question presented to it: "Will the 

 control of a particular tract of land, the 

 purchase of which by the Government is 

 proposed, promote or protect the naviga- 

 tion of a particular stream?" 



The geological survey's interpretation of 

 its function in the administration of the 

 Weeks law is that it involves a thorough 

 investigation of the physical facts bearing 

 upon the relation of each specific tract to 

 the navigability of the stream on whose 

 headwaters it lies. It is the position of the 

 geological survey that in general forest 

 cover does promote and protect stream flow, 

 but with the multiplicity of widely vary- 

 ing factors that enter into the problem as 

 presented in each different locality the rule 

 cannot be given universal application. In 

 this connection it may be noted that one 

 of New England's foremost civil engineers 

 In urging immediate purchase of lands in 

 the White Mountain region mentions a dif- 

 ference of conditions on two parts of the 

 drainage basin of one of the rivers under 

 consideration, stating that the cutting of 

 forests in the one area could not be con- 

 sidered as affecting navigation on the main 

 river, but making exactly the opposite 

 statement regarding the need of forests on 

 the headwaters of the other tributary. Al- 

 though it has been definitely reported that 

 the geological survey has condemned at 

 least two of the New England rivers as 

 not being navigable streams within the 

 meaning of the Weeks act, it is pointed out 

 at the geological survey that such a state- 

 ment contains a double error. 



In the first place, the determination of 

 what are navigable streams within the 

 meaning of this act lies with the national 

 forest reservation commission, and in the 

 second place the position taken by the 

 geological survey is that It is not warranted 



in prejudging the case of any area and 

 that either a favorable or an unfavorable 

 report must be preceded by actual field ex- 

 amination to determine the essential fac- 

 tors in the local problem. While the sur- 

 vey is in possession of a large amount of 

 data resulting from its many years of field 

 surveys, topographic, geologic and hydro- 

 graphic, there is no case thus far noted 

 in which the officials of the survey regard 

 the material already in hand as sufficient 

 to constitute the showing required by the 

 Weeks law. It is, however, the survey's 

 purpose to obtain this needed additional 

 information at once, and its field men are 

 starting this week to examine areas in 

 North Carolina and Tennessee, and at 

 conferences in Secretary Fisher's office last 

 week the director of the survey assured 

 Gov. Bass of New Hampshire and Senator 

 Gallinger and Representative Weeks that 

 examination within the White Mountain 

 region would be begun this spring and the 

 Investigation continued through the com- 

 ing field season. 



Director Smith expresses nimself as al- 

 together sympathetic with the popular de- 

 mand for forest purchases, and his. per- 

 sonal opinion in the subject of the in- 

 fluence of forests upon stream flow was 

 reflected in his contribution to the discus- 

 sion of the whole subject by the American 

 Society of Civil Engineers over two years 

 ago, but, as he adds, "The very field ob- 

 servations which prompted me to oppose 

 certain generalizations of Maj. Chittenden 

 in his forceful arguments against the ex- 

 istence of any relations between forest and 

 navigation force me to acknowledge on 

 the other hand that forests are not every- 

 where essential to the regulation of stream 

 flow. 



"I have taken a personal interest In 

 the subject of forest conservation, and 

 have always professed my strong belief in 

 the importance of the objects to be served 

 by forest preservation, even though these 

 may be only Incidental to the declared pur- 

 pose of the Weeks act, which is to con- 

 serve navigability, and it is on this ac- 

 count especially that I am desirous of not 

 only meeting the present situation wisely, 

 but also of assisting in the future accom- 

 pishment of further enactments and ap- 

 propriations, which end can be insured in 

 my opinion only by the wise administra- 

 tion of the law which was approved by 

 President Taft on March 1. " 



While there must be general respect for 

 the serious view of his responsibility under 

 the law taken by Director Smith, it may 

 be doubted whether such exhaustive scien- 

 tific examination was contemplated by Con- 

 gress or Is practically necessary. The ques- 

 tion to be determined is much simpler than 

 that. A longer term of years would be 

 necessary to go into the investigations 

 proposed by the Director and there Is a 

 public exigency demanding prompt action. 



