250 THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY 



River drainage basin and its adjoining territory for the general social 

 and economic welfare of the nation. In 1933, $50,000,000 was author- 

 ized for the project which embraces more than 40,000 square miles 

 and encompasses the drainage area of the Tennessee River and its 

 tributaries in Tennessee and portions of six other states, namely, 

 Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and 

 Kentucky. More than 2,000,000 people live within this area, and 

 about 6,000,000 people are in the immediate adjoining sphere of 

 influence. 



The project includes various purposes of development, but one of 

 the principal branches of the work is the Division of Forestry. The 

 principal objective of this division is the development and maintenance 

 of proper protection forests. This includes all those phases that have 

 to do with the control of watersheds, principally the prevention of soil 

 erosion, the reforestation of eroded and gullied areas and submar* 

 ginal agricultural lands, forest engineering, and the study of the steps 

 necessary to put into operation the proposed control of water and 

 streams before they flow into the larger rivers. 



The foresters in the Division of Forestry have been described as 

 vegetative engineers because to a large extent the chief objective is 

 in the direction of protecting the navigation and water flow for the 

 large engineering structures in the streams of the Tennessee basin. 

 The chief emphasis is therefore placed upon protection forestry. 



The Division is chiefly concerned with the problem of soil erosion 

 throughout the Tennessee Valley because this represents one of the 

 major difficulties that have to be faced in assuring proper protection. 

 There is, therefore, a direct interest in the submarginal and abandoned 

 farm lands. This interest is centered principally in the critical erosion 

 areas rather than in the large tracts of mountain forest lands which 

 are not being eroded to any appreciable extent. The area of eroded 

 lands has been estimated at 500,000 acres in the upper valley area 

 above Chattanooga and 300,000 acres below, or a total of 800,000 

 acres. 



The protection of the Tennessee Valley watersheds makes it obliga- 

 tory for the forestry officials to concern themselves with the adequate 

 care and management of these mountain forest areas, and for this 

 reason efforts are made to stimulate the further acquisition and devel- 

 opment of National Forests on the westerly slopes of the southern 

 Appalachian Mountains as well as in such State Forests, National 

 Forests, National Parks, and State Parks as may occur on the smaller 

 areas in the mountain forests, principally on the Cumberland and 

 nearby ranges. 



