REPORT OF SECRETARY OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE ON THE APPALACHIAN 

 WATERSHEDS 



ASA result of one of the most ex- 

 ^**' tensive and thoroughgoing field 

 investigations which the Government 

 has ever conducted, Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture Wilson, in his special report 

 transmitted to Congress on December 

 II, recommends that the Government 

 acquire an area not to exceed 600,000 

 acres in the White Mountains and 

 areas aggr.egating not more than 5,- 

 000,000 acres in the Southern Appa- 

 lachians for the establishment of Na- 

 tional Forests. The average price to 

 be paid per acre is put at $6 for the 

 White Mountains and at $3.50 for the 

 Southern Appalachians. The lands 

 which it is recommended that the Gov- 

 •ernment take over lie in the Blue 

 Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains of 

 North Carolina and Tennessee, South 

 Carolina and Georgia, in the Alleg- 

 heny Mountains of eastern and south- 

 ern West Virginia and western Vir- 

 ginia, in the Cumberland Mountains 

 of eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, and 

 northern Alabama, and in the four 

 main ranges of the White Mountains, 

 mostly in New Hampshire. Imme- 

 diate action is urged by the Secretary, 

 since the natural resources of both re- 

 gions are being seriously impaired by 

 reckless lumbering and wasteful use. 



Congress, at its last session, appro- 

 priated $25,000 to make this investi- 

 gation, and the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture, in order to present the most com- 

 plete and conclusive report possible, 

 saw to it that each of the several prob- 

 lems involved was handled by the most 

 competent man whose services could be 

 secured. The Forest Service detailed 

 to the work several of its most exper- 

 ienced experts, the Bureau of Soils 

 made a careful study of the soils and 

 agricultural possibilities of the South- 

 ■ern Appalachian Region, the Geolog- 



ical Survey gave the results of a seven 

 years' investigation of water power 

 and navigation in the Southern Appa- 

 lachians, from Prof. L. C. Glenn 

 of Vanderbilt University were secured 

 the results of a three years' study of 

 soil erosion, and from Mr. Philip W. 

 Ayres a report on the commercial im- 

 portance of the White Mountains. In 

 charge of the work as a whole was 

 Mr. William L. Hall, Assistant For- 

 ester in the Forest Service. 



The report of the Secretary con- 

 tains the first complete study of condi- 

 tions in the Southern Appalachians and 

 White Mountains, and gives some 

 startling facts concerning the amount 

 of water power available, the depend- 

 ence of the Nation upon the South-' 

 ern Appalachians for its future hard- 

 wood supply, and the enormous re- 

 duction in the value of the streams for 

 water-power and navigation which 

 would result from the removal of the 

 forests from the mountains. The Sec- 

 retary emphasizes the fact that the two 

 regions under consideration are ad- 

 vancing rapidly toward a condition of 

 barrenness and sterility. It is estimat- 

 ed that in the upland country south of 

 Pennsylvania not less than 100 square 

 miles of arable and forestable land are 

 absolutely lost each year through the 

 complete removal of the woods and 

 the consequent washing of the soil. 



That part of the report which deals 

 with the production of timber brings 

 out strikingly the fact that the Na- 

 tion's future hardwood supply rests 

 in the control of the Southern Appa- 

 lachians. In the last seven years the 

 hardwood lumber cut has fallen off 

 over 15 per cent and this in the face 

 of an unprecedented demand. During 

 the same period the wholesale prices 

 of hardwood lumber advanced from 25 



