[900. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



289 



THREE LETTERS TO THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION 



CONGRESS.* 



THE LETTER FROM GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT. 



ALBANY, N. Y., Nov. 16, 1900. 



To THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION CON- 

 GRESS, 



Chicago, Illinois. 

 Gentlemen : 



It is with very real regret that I find my 

 engagements here prevent my attending 

 the meeting of your body. I believe to 

 the last point in the vital necessity of 

 storing the floods and preserving the 

 forests, especially throughout the plains 

 and Rocky Mountain regions. The prob- 

 lem of the development of the greater 

 West is in large part a problem of irriga- 

 tion. I earnestly believe in the national 

 government giving generous aid to the 

 movement, for it is not possible, and if it 

 were possible, it would not be wise to have 

 this storage work done merely through 

 private ownership ; and owing to the 

 peculiar necessities of the case, much of 

 the work must be done by the National 

 and not by any State government. 



Moreover, it is not only necessary to 

 establish a great system of storage reser- 

 voirs to prevent the flood waste of the 

 waters ; it is also necessary to preserve the 

 forests on the mountains and among the 

 foothills. This means that, in the first 

 place, there must be a wide extension of 

 the existing system of forest reserves, and, 

 in the second place, that these forest re- 

 serves must be managed aright. They 

 cannot be so managed while there is the 

 present division among federal depart- 

 ments of the duties, and, therefore, of the 

 responsibilities, of their management. 



We are just getting to understand what 

 is involved in the preservation of our 

 forests. Not only is an industry at stake 

 which employs more than half a million of 

 men, the lumber industry, but the whole 



* These three letters were read before the re- 

 cent session of the National Irrigation Congress 

 held in Chicago from Nov. 2ist to Nov. 24th. 



prosperity and development of the West, 

 and indeed ultimately of the entire coun- 

 try, is bound up with the preservation of 

 the forests. Right use of the forests 

 means the perpetuation of our supply both 

 of wood and of water. Therefore we 

 cannot afford to be satisfied with anything 

 short of expert and responsible manage- 

 ment of the national forest reserves and 

 other national forest interests. The forest 

 reserves must be cared for by the best 

 trained foresters to be had, just as the 

 storage reservoirs must be built and main- 

 tained by the best engineers. There is 

 the same need of trained skill in handling 

 the forests in your best interests as there is 

 in building the great dams which will 

 some day bring population and abounding 

 prosperity to vast stretches of so-called 

 desert in the West. 



Any man who has ever dwelt on the 

 great plains knows what a serious matter 

 not only the water supply but the wood 

 supply is to the farmer, and of course 

 every miner knows the same thing. Not 

 only does the farmer need the water which 

 the preservation of the forests itself also 

 preserves, but he needs the wood too. So 

 does the miner, so does the manufacturer, 

 and so does the railroad man. The res- 

 ervoirs cannot last if they fill full of silt, 

 and the only way to prevent this fill ing 

 with silt is to preserve the forests them- 

 selves. The forest is a great sponge for 

 absorbing and distilling water. It is the 

 great preventer of erosion, and erosion is 

 always the danger point in any irrigation 

 system. 



Without pretending to outline definitely 

 a working scheme, I venture to point out 

 that without the attainment of the follow- 

 ing objects your plans must measurably 

 fail : 



First. Government study of the streams 

 upon winch your plans depend. 



Second. Goverment construction ami 

 control of ^ieat irrigation plants. 



Third. The preserx at ion of forests 1'v 



