1899. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



2S3 



" ' The boundaries to the park as now- 

 established by law are not well considered 

 for its future development. They are too 

 limited. They fail to include districts 

 whose scenic aspects are essential to the 

 unity of the park, and whose features 

 should not be left outside of its protection. 

 This is most especially true of the western 

 limit, and is to some extent true of the 

 northern and southern bounds.'" 



After quoting further, at considerable 



length, from the article in The Forester, 

 concluding with the suggestions offered by 

 Mr. Willis, the Commissioner sums up the 

 matter in these very complimentary words : 

 "From all the data available upon the 

 subject, I am of the opinion that I can not 

 do better than indorse the recommenda- 

 tion referred to ; and I accordingly recom- 

 mend that the limits of the park as now 

 established be changed to conform to the 

 boundaries here suggested." 



In the Southern Alleghenies. 



Public Interest in the Establishment of a National Southern Park and Forest 

 and Game Preserve in Western North Carolina." 





The Parks and Forestry Committee of 

 the Asheville Board of Trade has taken 

 the initiative in calling an interstate meet- 

 ing at Asheville, November 22, to form an 

 association and take practical steps for con- 

 summating the plan for a great forest pre- 

 serve in the wild mountain regions of that 

 state. It is aimed to bring the matter before 

 Congress with a popular request for a com- 

 mission to inquire into the feasibility of a 

 National Southern Park in North Carolina. 

 A large petition has been signed and the 

 committee is assured of the aid of the state 

 representatives and of many influential citi- 

 zens who have long favored the movement. 

 Its importance to the South and to the Na- 

 tion is claimed to be of the first magnitude, 

 as the committee expects to prove in due 

 time. The petition is addressed to Con- 

 gress, and reads : 



" The undersigned citizens and voters 

 represent that in the mountain regions of 

 western North Carolina there are great 

 tracts of timber lands, blessed with a salu- 

 brity of climate that renders the country 

 admirably adapted for health-seekers and 

 tourists. This region, as yet compara- 

 tively little known, is threatened with the 

 denudation of its forests by lumbering and 

 other enterprises. The exceeding beauty 

 of the region, with its numerous springs 

 and waterfalls, is dependent largely on the 



protection of its trees. The increased ac- 

 tivity in the various leather and woodwork- 

 ing industries has, however, given an im- 

 petus to the lumbering and tanning trades, 

 and the destruction of these mountain 

 foi-est lands is proceeding to a degree 

 which makes it but a question of a short 

 time when the ruin will be completed. 

 Despoiled of the trees, the land will be 

 comparatively useless. The resulting dry- 

 ing up of the springs and water-courses 

 with attendant destructive floods will mark 

 the irreparable damage done to this region 

 unless legislative interference comes to its 

 aid. 



" The advantage to the nation at large 

 in the establishment of a National Park in 

 these mountains would be incalculable, 

 from the fact of its readiness of access from 

 all the large centers of trade, being within 

 twenty-four hours journey, approximately, 

 of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. Pos- 

 ton, Indianapolis, etc. Your petitioners, 

 undersigned, therefore, urge that measures 

 be adopted looking to the protection of 

 the region by the establishment of a Na- 

 tional Park and Forest Reserve." 



In furtherance of the project, the Park 

 and Forestry Committee has sent out a 

 handsome illustrated pamphlet, calling at- 

 tention to the favorable opportunities now 

 existing and emphasizing the consequences 



