524 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



alluring the tramper to further explore its cool and 

 refreshing recesses. 



The White Mountain National Forest is designed to 

 protect the headwaters of the Connecticut, Saco, Merri- 

 niac and Androscoggin Rivers. Although the Merrimac 

 is navigable and has important water traffic in coal and 

 petroleum, it is chiefly noteworthy as having its water 

 powers highly developed and for the large number of 

 textile mills which line its banks. The total possibilities 

 of the stream developed and undeveloped, in New Hamp- 

 shire and Massachusetts, exceed 100,000 horsepower; 

 while those of the Androscoggin in Maine and New 

 Hampshire amount to 260,000 horsepower.* 



One of the most important streams heading in the 

 southern Appalachians is the Tennessee River, on which 

 is located the Muscle Shoals which with other nearby 

 power sites has around 1,000,000 latent horsepower 

 possibilities.** The main channel of the Tennessee River 

 is navigable for a distance of 650 miles above its mouth 

 where it joins the Ohio. The annual traffic upon it 

 amounts to three quarters of a million tons. Its head- 

 waters are in southwestern Virginia, western North 

 Carolina, northern Georgia, and southwestern Kentucky, 

 and are in part protected by five National Forests the 

 White Top, Pisgah, Savannah, Georgia and Alabama. 

 All of these forests are within the field of heavy rain- 

 fall as much as twenty inches having fallen within two 

 days' time at certain points. There is relatively little 

 snow and consequently the soil where unprotected by 



forest is subject to the devastating influence of con- 

 centrated precipitation practically throughout the entire 

 year. The result of this is that erosion is here excessive 

 and sedimentation in the channels of streams is a serious 

 problem. This condition is not limited to the Tennessee 

 River but also applies to other streams which have their 

 source in this region. Some of these like the Black 

 Warrior, one of the important rivers of Alabama whose 

 headwaters are in part protected by the Alabama Na- 

 tional Forest, are important power streams as well as 

 having been developed for navigation by a costly system 

 of locks. 



The flood situation on the Ohio River has long been a 

 matter of serious concern to the National Forest Reser- 

 vation Commission. Special consideration has been given 

 to the situation at Pittsburgh. This led the commission 

 to authorize the establishment of a purchase unit in 

 Pennsylvania on the headwaters of the Allegheny river, 

 since it seemed desirable that the watershed of the Alle- 

 gheny be protected as well as the Monongahela River, 

 the southern headstream of the Ohio. Thus it inaugu- 

 rated the principle of protecting on the Ohio River 

 both of its head streams which unite at Pittsburgh. The 

 plans for the control of flood waters on these streams 

 called for the establishment of a series of storage reser- 

 voirs and in order to secure permanently full benefits 

 from such reservoirs it is essential that erosion be re- 

 duced to a minimum to prevent the loss in storage 

 through silting. It was not until 1921 that the legisla- 



