26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



streams is the fumlamental purpose outlined in the enactment, other 

 benefits incidental in character, but nevertheless important, are being 

 kept in view by those having the land selections in charge. Among 

 these are the protection of the soil of steep mountain slopes against 

 the damage of soil cover, and soil destruction itself caused by forest 

 fires, and from the disastrous erosion of the soil that follows such 

 destruction; the preservation of water powers, which like navigation 

 depend for their value upon the evenness of stream flow ; the preserva- 

 tion of the purity and regularity of the flow of mountain streams, 

 with a view to their use for the water supply of towns and cities; 

 the preservation of the timber supply to meet the needs of the indus- 

 tries of the country; and the preservation of the beauty and attrac- 

 tiveness of the uplands of a great and salubrious mountain region, 

 as recreation and pleasure grounds for the public. 



Aside from its application to thn 

 watersheds of navigable streams, the law 

 is not restricted to particular regions, 

 save that lands may be purchased only 

 in the states whose legislatures have con- 

 sented to the acquisition of lands by the 

 United States. The states which have 

 passed such legislation are Maine, New 

 Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, West 

 Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, 

 South Carolina and Georgia. 



The sources of navigable streams 

 which have their origin in the Pacific 

 coast region are to a large extent already 

 protected by national forests. Hence 

 the sections that are naturally being in- 

 cluded in the new national forests will 

 be the Appalachian region, and very 

 likely a section in New England, includ- 

 ing the White mountains, as for the most 

 part they are without protection. Be- 

 cause of their altitude, steepness of slope 

 and lack of protection, the Appalachians 

 are in a class by themselves in their need 

 for the action authorized by this law. 

 For the fulfillment of this enactment Con- 

 gress provided a total sum of eleven mil- 

 lion two hundred thousand dollars, to bo 

 expended in the greater part at the rate 

 of two million dollars annually until June 

 30, 1915. 



Location and Desckiption op Southern 

 Appalachian Eegion 

 The Southern Appalachian region in- 

 cludes a small section of central southern 

 Virginia, the entire eastern line of coun- 

 ties of Tennessee, approximately two rows 

 of counties of western North Carolina, 

 and a considerable section of northern 

 Georgia and northwestern South Caro- 

 lina. Generally described it is a range 

 of mountain country running from north- 

 east to southwest, about three hundred 



miles in length and fifty miles in width. This describes the par- 

 ticular area under consideration, and in which certain lands have 

 already been purchased for the new park. 



Along the southeastern portion of this southern mountain belt is 

 the Blue Bidge proper, which, as it crosses into North Carolina, is m 

 fairly well defined mountain range, standing more than three thousand 

 feet above the sea, and rising in four peaks to more than five thousand 

 feet, and in one — The Grandfather — to practically six thousand feet. 

 Bordering this region on the northwest is a mountain range — The 

 TJnakas — somewhat higher, and in its southern portion more massive 

 but less continuous than the Blue Ridge. This region is cut across 

 by half a dozen rivers, which rise on the Blue Eidge on the east, 

 flow across this intervening mountain region, and cut through the 



LEVI TRENTUAM, MOUNTAINEER FAUMEK, SEVIER 

 COUNTY, TENNESSEE 



Unakas in wild, deep gorges. Between these river gorges the seg- 

 ments of the Unakas are known by such local names as Iron moun- 

 tains, Bald mountains, and Great Smoky mountains. In southern 

 Virginia the Unakas approach the Blue Ridge, and practically merge 

 with the latter into one irregular mountain range. Further south- 

 ward the two diverge. The Unaka range has eighteen peaks rising 

 about five thousand feet, and eight of these above six thousand feet. 

 Roan mountain, toward its northern end, has an altitude of six 

 thousand three hundred and thirteen feet, and Mt. Guyot and Cling- 

 man's Dome, further south in the Great Smokies, reach respective 

 altitudes of six thousand three hundred and thirty-six feet and six 

 thousand six hundred and nineteen feet. 



Southwest of the Tennessee-North Carolina line, these bordering 

 mountain chains lose both in elevation and regularity. In northern 

 Georgia they break up into several minor 

 ridges, diminishing in size as they ex- 

 tend southwestward, to widening irregu- 

 lar valleys. 



Standing on the summit of one of 

 the elevated mountains of this region, 

 one may see stretching out in all direc- 

 tions an endless succession of mountain 

 ridges and peaks. Hundreds of such 

 vistas, from as many peaks, open out be- 

 fore the traveler. In every direction 

 splendid hardwood forests cover and pro- 

 tect the mountain slopes. All these moun- 

 tains are more or less irregular both in 

 their courses and in their elevations. 

 Most of them have peaks rising from 

 their tops, and not a few have fairly uni- 

 form crests. A few are sharp, rugged 

 and rocky, but most of them have rounded 

 domes, whose tops are covered only with 

 grass and rhododendron. Many others, 

 equally as tall and massive as the Blacks 

 and the Great Smokies, are heavily forest 

 covered to their summits. 



The haziness of the atmosphere in this 

 section has found expression in the names 

 Blue Eidge and Smoky mountains, which 

 atmospheric condition limits the distance 

 of distinct vision, but it combines with 

 the forest cover to soften the details, and 

 to render the southern Appalachian land- 

 scape attractive beyond comparison. This 

 succession of ridges and peaks, seen 

 through it from an eminence, rising one 

 above and beyond another for fifty or one 

 hundred miles, impresses upon the ob- 

 server in a manner never to be forgotten 

 the vastness of this region of mountains. 

 It has forty-six peaks a mile or more 

 apart, and forty-one miles of dividing 

 ridges which rise above six thousand feet ; 

 two hundred and eighty-eight additional 

 peaks and three hundred miles of divide 

 rise more than five thousand feet above the sea. They are not only 

 the greatest masses of mountains east of the Rockies, but are the 

 highest altitudes covered with hardwood forests in America. This 

 region in its position, mountain features, forests and climate stands 

 grandly out as the greatest physiographic feature in the eastern half 

 of the continent. 



Origin op the Movement 

 In the foregoing is briefed the topographical analysis of the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture covering this Appalachian region, based on the 

 reports of the Geographic Survey and Forest Service, which was trans- 

 mitted by ex-President Roosevelt in a letter to the Senate and House 

 of Representatives in December, 1901, when he urged upon Congress 

 the establishment of a national park in this region. In this letter 



