i8g9 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



177 



The Resolutions Adopted. 



Complete Text of the Report of the Committee on Resolutions. 



Whereas, "The tree is the mother 

 of the fountain," and the forests and 

 foliage of our mountains must be pre- 

 served in order to maintain both the sur- 

 face and underground supplies of water 

 for irrigation, navigation, water power 

 and other purposes, and to prevent the 

 ruin and desolation which has followed 

 the destruction of the forests in so many 

 of the older countries of the world ; and 



Whereas, the very life of the com- 

 munities which have already grown up 

 in the arid region of the United States, 

 and the further development of that vast 

 area of our national territory, with all its 

 attendant benefits to the entire country, 

 depends absolutely upon the preserva- 

 tion of the remaining forests and the re- 

 forestation of denuded forest areas ; and 



Whereas, the problem is a national 

 one, and involves the preservation of 

 national resources, the destruction of 

 which would be disastrous to the people 

 of the entire country : 



Now therefore be it resolved by the Amer- 

 ican Forestry Association 



1. That we earnestly urge upon the 

 Congress of the United States the im- 

 portance of carrying into full effect the 

 legislation enacted with a view to secur- 

 ing the broadest and most effective ac- 

 tion by the National Government for the 

 preservation and reforestation of the 

 forest lands of our country and the re- 

 sulting conservation of our timber and 

 water supplies, and wise and systematic 

 utilization of our lumbering resources. 



2. That we favor the adoption of a 

 system for the leasing of the public graz- 

 ing lands under which the revenues 

 would be devoted to forest preservation 

 and irrigation development in the States 

 and Territories where situated, but with- 

 out any grant in trust or otherwise of the 

 title of the land to the States. Where, 

 however, the value of the forest areas as 

 sources of water supply so far overbal- 

 ances any possible value they may have 



for grazing purposes, as is the case in 

 Southern California and other places, no 

 grazing whatever should be allowed in 

 the forests. 



3. That we commend the action of 

 our National Government, and especially 

 the interest and efforts of the Secretary 

 of the Interior and the Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture and of the Division of Forestry 

 of the Department of Agriculture, 

 through Mr. Gifford Pinchot, and of the 

 Division of Hydrography of the Geolog- 

 ical Survey, through Mr. F. H. Newell, 

 and of the Irrigation Investigation of 

 the Department of Agriculture, under 

 Mr. Elwood Mead, to increase our 

 knowledge of forest problems and of their 

 relation to the conservation and mainte- 

 nance of our water supplies, and inas- 

 much as the State of California offers 

 unusual facilities for the investigation of 

 the close connection between forest pres- 

 ervation and irrigation, we urge that a 

 thorough investigation thereof should at 

 once be made by Mr. Elwood Mead in 

 that State, in connection with the irriga- 

 tion investigation of the Department of 

 Agriculture now being made under his 

 charge, and that the investigations as to 

 water supplies now being made by the 

 Division of Hydrography of the United 

 States Geological Survey should, wher- 

 ever practicable, embrace an investiga- 

 tion into the actual effect of forest denu- 

 dation upon the flow of streams from the 

 denuded watershed. 



4. That we commend the efforts of the 

 National Irrigation Congress and the 

 National Irrigation Association and of 

 all local organizations, such as the South- 

 ern California Forest and Water Society, 

 to awaken and unify public sentiment as 

 to this great question of forest preserva- 

 tion, and we strongly urge the vital im- 

 portance of absolute harmony of policy 

 and concentration and unity of pur- 

 pose among all who are laboring in the 

 cause. 



