THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FORESTS 



AND STREAMS 



By JOHN H. FINNEY 

 Secretary of the Appalachian National Forest Association 



IN COMMON with almost the entire 

 Nation, I hold these views regard- 

 ing the Appalachian-White Moun- 

 tain forest project: First, that the es- 

 tablishment of this forest area in the 

 southern Appalachians and in the 

 White Mountains is a duty which the 

 Nation owes to itself ; that it is a mat- 

 ter of national self-preservation ; that 

 only the Nation can do it; second, if 

 the way to conserve is to "conserve." 

 that here lies the tangible and sub- 

 stantial foundation for a constructive 

 policy along conservation lines, at rela- 

 tively small cost, to the immense pres- 

 ent and future advantage of the whole 

 Nation. 



The bringing of this project to this 

 point is the result of twenty years of 

 work by earnest men ; it has been urged 

 by three Presidents ; it has been ex- 

 haustively investigated and strongly 

 urged by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture and the House Committees on 

 Agriculture. For more than a decade 

 it has been before the Congress at prac- 

 tically every session ; it has passed the 

 House once and the Senate three times 

 and, being as yet unestablished, it may 

 be proper to fankly outline its present 

 status in the National Legislature. 



It is meeting there now, as in the 

 past, some very active opposition, rang- 

 ing from the Speaker down to those 

 who, in committee, are in position to 

 block progress. One important chair- 

 man raises the question of "enormous 

 expense ;" another, that conditions are 

 "grossly exaggerated ;" a southern 

 member opposes it on the question of 

 "constitutionality." It met last year a 

 powerful antagonist in the person of 

 an army engineer (retired), who held 



that forests had no effect on water sup- 

 ply or regulation ; this year it meets 

 an equally valiant opponent in Mr. 

 Willis L. Moore, of the Weather Bu- 

 reau, whose carefully timed report 

 made to the chairman of the House 

 Committee on Agriculture again fur- 

 nishes welcomed ammunition to those 

 who fight it. 



That the constitutional objections 

 have been eliminated by the report of 

 the Judiciary Committee ; that condi- 

 tions are shown to be not in the least 

 "exaggerated ;" that the "enormous ex- 

 pense" is but a fraction of what the 

 Nation will finally be compelled to ex- 

 pend if the area is not now estab- 

 lished ; that the arguments of Colonel 

 Chittenden have been fully refuted by 

 such men as Prof. Geo. F. Swain, Dr. 

 C. E. Van Hise, and other notable sci- 

 entists, matter little to those who, be- 

 ing in position to block legislation, con- 

 tinue to do so on one plea or another. 



I do not measure in scientific attain- 

 ment to the present distinguished op- 

 ponent of forestry, but some practical 

 engineering and a little common sense 

 based on an actual knowledge of con- 

 ditions in the South may shed some 

 light on Mr. Moore's conclusions as 

 reported in the daily press, and show, 

 if a demonstration be necessary, to 

 those who happened to be in Washing- 

 ton on March 4 last, that meteorological 

 science is hardly so exact as to re- 

 quire the acceptance, without question, 

 of the opinions and conclusions of even 

 so distinguished a man as the Chief of 

 the Weather Bureau. 



Like the gentleman who recently 

 came out of the North with tremendous 

 claims, but without his notebook and 



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