iS 9 9- 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



285 



the destructive and wasteful methods now 

 in vogue. When all lumbering and bark 

 gathering operations are under scientific 

 control these businesses may be confident 

 of a steady and regular supply of timber 

 and bark. The individual will not be in- 

 terfered with in his private rights. The 

 lands suitable for the Park will be pur- 

 chased at a valuation and the owners will 

 receive in a lump sum more than they 

 could hope to secure by selling off timber 

 or bark. 



" Pleasure and health seekers and tour- 

 ists show a disposition to come in increas- 

 ing numbers to this section of the South 

 in the winter time and in the summer visit- 

 ors from the South come to the mountains 

 year after year, building homes and enter- 

 ing into the progress of the various com- 

 munities. 



l 'The attraction to these people is the 

 healthful climate and the beauty of the 

 region, and to this healthfulness and 

 beauty the woods and forests are the 

 prime contributors. With the destruction 

 of the forests and the attendant evil effects 

 upon the region, what has it to offer to at- 

 tract visitors and others? In addition it 

 must be remembered that the South has 

 no park conducted on the same principles 

 and aims as those in the North. 



"The central character of the region 

 gives the project of a Southern National 

 Park attractiveness not only to the people 

 of the South, but to the entire nation. 

 Being within twenty-four hours from 

 New York and the same length of time 

 from the Gulf States the park would be a 

 benefit to the greatest number of citizens 

 of the United States." 



The Influence of Forests Upon Storage Reservoirs. 



Some Conditions Essential to the Maintenance of Streamflow and Water 



Conservation. 



In an arid region, where irrigation is a 

 necessity, and where the streams are inter- 

 mittent in their flow, ranging in discharge 

 from violent floods to trickling rivulets, 

 storage reservoirs are essential for any con- 

 siderable extension of the irrigated area. 



Sites for reservoirs of large capacity are 

 very scarce, where all conditions are right 

 for the construction of safe dams, for 

 the certain filling of the reservoirs, and 

 for the convenient distribution of the 

 water to lands suitable for its use. The 

 scarcity of such sites renders it all the 

 more essential that those which exist 

 should be guarded from all influence tend- 

 ing to the destruction of their usefulness. 



The mountain slopes of Southern Cali- 

 fornia are more than ordinarily precipi- 

 tous, and the denudation of these steep 

 slopes of their forest growth by destruc- 

 tive fires, or by equally destructive bands 

 of sheep, tends to loosen the surface soil 

 and render it easily eroded, so that as the 



vegetation of the mountains disappears, 

 the streams become more torrential, and 

 more heavily laden with debris. All this 

 gravel, sand and soil is deposited in the 

 bed of the reservoirs located in their path. 



The result is to fill the space which 

 should be devoted to the storage of water, 

 thereby lessening its capacity. 



The rapidity of this destruction of the 

 reservoirs will depend somewhat upon 

 their location: if they are in the moun- 

 tains and have large watersheds of steep 

 slopes they will more rapidly till with 

 coarse material. If they are nearer the 

 plains on flatter slopes they will receive 

 sand rolled along the bottom of the stream 

 at their upper ends, and line mud over the 

 remainder of the area. Under these con- 

 ditions they will fill less rapidly. The 

 Sweetwater reservoir, near San Diego, is 

 a type of the latter class, where conditions 

 are most favorable. Recent measure- 

 ments have shown that the deposit in the 



