80 Conservation of Natural Resources in California. 



A PRACTICAL VIEW. 



From an article by H. Von Schon, a hard-headed working engineer, in 

 Engineering Magazine, October, 1908. 



"A bare, hard-baked surface absorbs but little water; a forested 

 area with its deep layer of leaves, brush and humus is a sponge which 

 becomes saturated with the w r ater; it is a natural storage reservoir. 

 The rapid storm surface run-off erodes the top soil and carries it in 

 suspension , dropping it somewhere in the lower channels ; timbered 

 slopes obstruct this surface run-off; it gathers force but slowly; it finds 

 in loose earth or gravel to carry along ; the foliage canopy of the trees 

 breaks the force of the downpouring rain, which reaches the ground 

 gradually; finally, the snowfall on the open hillsides melts quickly 

 under the influence of the wind and the sun, while that in the forest 

 remains to melt gradually and then to sink into the ground. 



"That water waste with its collateral flood destructions of life and 

 property, the constantly increasing erosions of the fruitful top soil, 

 and the consequent impoverishing of what remains, and the sedimenta- 

 tion of river channels, are primarily caused by the cutting away of 

 the forests in the headwater regions of rivers, was recognized and acted 

 upon by some of the European peoples hundreds of years ago.; little 

 Switzerland enacted a forest-conservation statute as early as 1680, 

 which has been enforced in a most business-like manner since; 20 per 

 cent of the mountain republic's area is in conserved forests, some 

 2,000,000 acres; the cost of maintenance and supervision is $1.32 and 

 the net revenue, $2.25 per acre annually. 



"Germany's forest area is 35,000,000 acres; its system of forest 

 preservation was inaugurated one hundred and fifty years ago. France 

 has 23,000,000 acres of forests, all under admirable preserve laws. The 

 combined population of these two countries exceeds that of the United 

 States about 15,000,000. They now expend annually on forest preser- 

 vation some $11,000,000 and enjoy a net revenue of about $30,000,000, 

 while the United States forestry expenditures last year aggregated 

 $1,400,000 and the revenue $130,000." 



CALIFORNIA TAN OAKS. 



One of the most shocking sights in the waste of the fuel resources of 

 this State is the method of harvesting tanbark. Thousands of square 

 miles of our north coast region were covered by fine oak trees. To get 

 the bark the trees are first cut down and then peeled. The bark is taken 

 out by wagons or pack animals and sold b}^ the cord. But the trees 



