1534 A NATIONAL PLAX FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



regain its original density and effectiveness. Artificial re-vegetation 

 of some 900,000 acres at a cost of perhaps $3,000,000 seems to bo 

 desirable. Aside from watershed-protection requirements, such 

 action is obviously essential to permanency of the livestock industry, 

 particularly in the West. This subject is presented in detail in the 

 section of this report entitled "A Forest Range Program." 



SPECIAL MEASURES 



On a limited area serious erosion now in progress can be checked 

 only by special measures, frequently of an engineering character. 

 These will include such measures as the installation of fhunes at the 

 head of active gullies, the construction of check dams, the scattering 

 of brush, and the building of temporary retaining walls. Detailed 

 estimates of the cost of such measures by regions have not been made, 

 but such data as are available indicate the need for an expenditure of 

 perhaps 20,000,000. In general such measures will be the first step 

 toward the reclo thing of the affected areas with a permanent cover of 

 grass, brush, or trees. 



REHABILITATION OF ABANDONED AGRICULTURAL LAND 



Fully 70 percent of the erosion problem and 40 percent of the water- 

 flow problem in the East result from improper agriculture. The 

 remedy is (1) to improve agricultural methods so that erosion will be 

 lessened and soil fertility maintained on supermarginal lands, and 



(2) to rehabilitate through forestry those submarginal lands which 

 contribute to stream-flow and silting problems. Here we are con- 

 cerned only with the latter. This \nll involve (1) fire protection to 

 permit natural revegetation or reforestation where possible, (2) 

 forest planting on land where erosion would otherwise continue, and 



(3) special measures where successful reforestation would otherwise 

 be impossible because of soil movement. 



RESEARCH 



Exact experimental evidence upon which to base the management 

 of watershed lands is far too meager, both here and abroad. The 

 varied and complex influences of climate, forest type and condition, 

 and character of soil on stream flow and on erosion must be carefully 

 determined if forest-land management is to meet watershed-protection 

 requirements. A conservative program that would meet this need is 

 presented in the section of this report entitled "Research in the 

 United States Forest Service, a Study in Objectives." 



METHODS OF MEETING MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS ON 



PRIVATE LAND 



The benefits to be derived from proper watershed management in 

 large measure accrue to the public rather than to individual land- 

 owners. Except where conditions on the land constitute a demon- 

 strable menace, corrective action should be financed, at least in large 

 part, by the public rather than by the private owner. It has been 

 shown that the greatest watershed problems exist on private land 

 and unmanaged public land. Three avenues of approach are open to 

 the private-land problem, each offering a different measure of promise. 



