A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1171 



TABLE 2. Number of land-exchange cases consummated up to Dec. 31, 1931 



EASTERN STATES 



The proposal that the Federal Government acquire and perma- 

 nently manage certain forest areas in the Eastern States apparently 

 originated, or at least was first formally expressed, at Asheville, 

 N.C., in 1899. Different agencies interested in the development 

 of the Southern States had noted with concern the rapidity with 

 which the original stands of timber were being exploited and the 

 ensuing impoverishment of the lands through fire and erosion. 

 Their interest was esthetic as well as economic, and the first ten- 

 tative proposals were for the establishment of national parks, but 

 in time sentiment crystallized in favor of national forests as a more 

 practical form of Federal administration. The idea quickly found 

 favor in New England where the rapid progress of timber utiliza- 

 tion was likewise creating alarm; so that the two widely separated 

 regions joined in support of the new proposal of Federal participa- 

 tion in the solution of the rapidly enlarging problem. 



So radical a departure from previously existing concepts of Federal 

 functions inspired widespread differences of opinion, not only among 

 Members of the Congress but among laymen as well. The consti- 

 tutionality of the proposal was both attacked and supported by 

 eminent authorities on the subject. Conferences and hearings were 

 held, not only by congressional committees but also by organized 

 unofficial groups and agencies^ In all, the subject was under detailed 

 consideration for a total period of 12 years. At the end of that 

 period Congress enacted the law of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 961), 

 popularly known as the "Weeks Law" because of its sponsorship by 

 John W. Weeks, then a Representative from Massachusetts but 

 later to be a Senator from that State and eventually Secretary of 

 War. The primary purpose of the act was to safeguard the navi- 

 gability of streams by maintaining on their upper headwaters the 

 forest cover necessary to prevent excessive run-off and erosion. 



