1532 A NATIONAL PLAN FOB AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Almost all this area, with the exception of the dense brush fields of 

 the south coast drainages of California, is used as range for livestock. 

 Except on the national forests, national parks, and Indian reserva- 

 tions, the cover usually has been badly depleted through overgrazing 

 and other improper range use and in some instances has been completely 

 removed. The removal of the vegetation, the breaking up of the 

 litter by trampling, and the mechanical disturbance of the top soil 

 has brought about an increase in run-off and has resulted in serious 

 erosion. The fertile top soil has washed away, leaving the land 

 seriously reduced in productivity and much less retentive of rainfall. 

 Floods are therefore common, silt is being sluiced into reservoirs and 

 ditches, and in some instances such as that of the Salt Lake Valley 

 and of southern California great damage to improved farms has 

 resulted through the deposition of gravel and boulders carried by 

 floods. 



Owing to the semiarid climate, improvement of watershed con- 

 ditions will be slow even under careful management. The mantle of 

 humus and enriched top soil that is characteristic of a large part of 

 this region is so thin as to be easily destroyed. The type of plant 

 cover that these areas once supported depended in marked degree 

 upon the high fertility of soil that has now been washed away. 



A relatively small part of these lands is within national forests, 

 national parks, and Indian reservations and a small additional area 

 is being administered as city watersheds, particularly in southern 

 California. Such areas are managed so as to maintain watershed 

 values. The greater portion of these lands is in the public domain or 

 in private ownership, and on this portion neither watershed nor range 

 values are being maintained. Over large areas the quantity of forage 

 produced now is less than half that originally produced. 



The major step in correcting watershed conditions on these lands 

 is extremely simple, yet in spite of at least two decades of pressure 

 it has not yet been taken. The key to the solution is to place the 

 public domain under proper administration. Proper management of 

 public-domain lands together with the existing management of the 

 national forests would encourage better management of privately 

 owned range land and would therefore greatly improve conditions 

 generally. 



PROGRAM FOR ADEQUATE WATERSHED PROTECTION 

 LAND MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS 



In order to meet the deficiencies in watershed protection that have 

 just been presented the following major improvements in land 

 management must be effected. 



FIRE PROTECTION 



Fire protection on watershed lands must be improved to meet the 

 standards set up in the section of this report entitled " Protection 

 Against Fire." This will mean giving organized protection to the 

 191 million acres of forest now unprotected and materially strenght- 

 ening protection on the units already organized. In particular, 

 protection effort must be greatly strengthened in the South, the 

 Central States, the Pacific Coast States, and parts of the Northern 

 Rocky Mountain Region. 



