366 A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 



DUNE LANDS 



Dunes occupy only a narrow strip of land along the eastern shore of 

 the Great Lakes. In many places the width of this strip is scarcely 

 half a mile; in some it is as much as 10 miles. The area involved is 

 probably not more than 125,000 acres. Locally, however, the dunes 

 do considerable harm. As they migrate eastward under the pre- 

 vailing westerly winds they become a constantly increasing menace 

 to tillable lands and to improvements. They have invaded factory 

 yards in Gary, Ind., and have repeatedly encroached upon railroads 

 and highways. 



Usually a scattered stand of oaks or a low, shrubby vegetation occurs 

 on the dunes. Where this cover is complete, it holds the sand in place. 

 Cutting, fire, and trampling by recreationists have' so deteriorated the 

 cover that many of the dunes, formerly stable, are now in motion. 



A problem akin to that of the shore dunes has developed in New 

 York west of the Adirondack Mountains. As a result of cultivation 

 the top soil has eroded away, exposing fine sand. Unless held in place 

 by a plant cover, this sand moves easily with the wind and in places 

 forms inland dunes. The uncovering of this sand and its movement 

 have led to abandonment of agricultural land which according to 

 census data has caused the area of crop land in these counties to 

 decrease by from 10 to 20 percent. Undoubtedly this condition has 

 been responsible for a considerable part of the farm-land abandon- 

 ment in St. Lawrence, Lewis, Oswego, and Jefferson Counties. In an 

 effort to control this soil movement the State of New York has pur- 

 chased many abandoned farms and is reforesting them. 



MOUNTAIN AREAS 



The roughest lands in the St. Lawrence drainage are in the Adiron- 

 dacks and the Green Mountains. Here heavy precipitation, steep 

 slopes, and heavy soils make for rapid run-off and for erosion from 

 cleared lands. For the most part these mountains sustain a hardwood 

 and spruce forest that protects the soil. 



On State lands in the Adirondack State Park good coyer condi- 

 tions are safeguarded by a constitutional prohibition of timber cut- 

 ting. Areas in private ownership within the park, however, are 

 subject to cutting. On these the present selective cutting, winter 

 logging, and infrequent fires disturb the soil but slightly. The land 

 cut over is soon reclaimed by hardwood sprouts. Poor cover con- 

 ditions brought about by earlier over cutting and by heavy summer 

 fires are gradually improving under fire protection. The State plans 

 to acquire additional lands within the park area. 



In the Green Mountains, with their more rolling terrain, a larger 

 area has been brought under cultivation than in the Adirondacks. 

 Abandonment of cultivated lands is common, owing in part to sheet 

 erosion of the heavy soils. In the hardwood stands logging and 

 other disturbances are not destructive. Much of the cutting is done 

 by farmers in the winter, the fire hazard is low except for dry grass in 

 abandoned fields, and there is little grazing on forest lands. On no 

 class of forest land does the forest cover have difficulty in reestab- 

 lishing itself except on abandoned agricultural land. 



