194 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



and percolation as opposed to the route by way of run-off. 

 When water falls on a forest much of it is evaporated from the 

 leafy tops before it reaches the ground. When it does reach 

 the ground it is filtered through the thick litter on the forest 

 floor. If the trees are removed, the rain falls directly on the 

 forest litter, washes it away and lays bare the soil. Everyone 

 knows what happens when running water strikes bare soil. 



Most of the timber that has been cut within the past genera 

 tion or so has come from hilly land, frequently in mountainous 

 regions like the Osarks, the Alleghenies, and the Cascade 

 ranges. The two major factors affecting run-off are slope and 

 soil cover. When the forest on these hillsides had been cut, the 

 steep slopes were left bare. The watersheds that once held back 

 much of the heavy rains now send torrents down into the 

 great river systems that have their source in these uplands. 



The role of the forests in holding the water and soil in the 

 watersheds has long been a well-known fact. Indeed, the first 

 forest laws setting aside federal forest land were passed partly 

 with the idea that the federal government had the right to pro 

 tect watersheds. The reasoning behind this was that water 

 sheds controlled streams and navigation, and the control of 

 navigation is a duty of the federal government. 



THE FOREST AND THE COMMUNITY 



Not far from Duluth, Minnesota, is the little town of Clo- 

 quet. Cloquet is a famous forest town. It has gone through 

 three periods of American forestry. Once Cloquet was the 

 center for sawing the virgin white pine that grew there. By 

 1918 these dense forests had been practically destroyed. The 

 flat glacial plain in which Cloquet is built was covered with 

 heaps of brush and slash and young trees. By October of that 

 year, there had been but 22 inches of rainfall for the last 

 twenty months. Somebody did not put out a cigarette before 



