14 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



January, 



forest experts and lumbermen alike to 

 assert that of all the continent this re- 

 gion is best suited to the purpose and 

 plans of a national forest reserve in the 

 hardwood region. 



The conclusions of the Secretary of 

 Agriculture are summarized as follows 

 in his report : 



1. The Southern Appalachian region 

 embraces the highest peaks and largest 

 mountain masses east of the Rockies. 

 It is the great physiographic feature of 

 the eastern half of the continent, and 

 no such lofty mountains are covered 

 with hardwood forests in all America. 



2. Upon these mountains descends 

 the heaviest rainfall of the United 

 States, except that of the North Pacific 

 coast. It is often of extreme violence, 

 as much as 8 inches having fallen in 

 eleven hours, 31 inches in one month, 

 and 105 inches in a year. 



3. The soil once denuded of its forest 

 and swept by torrential rains rapidly 

 loses first its humus, then its rich upper 

 strata, and finally is washed in enormous 

 volume in the streams, to bury such of 

 the fertile lowlands as are not eroded by 

 the floods, obstruct the rivers, and fill 

 up the harborS'On theeoast. More good 

 soil is now washed from these cleared 

 mountain-side fields during a single 

 heav}^ rain than during centuries under 

 forest cover. 



4. The rivers which originate in the 

 Southern Appalachians flow into or 

 along every state from Ohio to the Gulf 

 and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. 

 Along their courses are agricultural, 

 water-power, and navigation interests, 

 whose preservation is absolutely essen- 

 tial to the well-being of the nation. 



5. The regulation of the flow of these 

 rivers can only be accomplished by the 

 conservation of the forests. 



6. These are the heaviest and most 

 beautiful hardwood forests of the conti- 

 nent. In them species from east and 

 west, from north and south mingle in a 

 growth of unparalleled richness and va- 

 riety. They contain many species of 

 the first commercial value, and furnish 

 important supplies which cannot be ob- 

 tained from any other region. 



7 . For economic reasons the preser\^a- 

 tion of these forests is imperative. Their 



existence in good condition is essential to 

 the prosperity of the lowlands through 

 which their waters run. Maintained in 

 productive condition, they will supply 

 indispensable materials which must fail 

 without them. Their management 

 under practical and conser\^ative forestry 

 will sustain and increase the resources 

 of this region and of the nation at large, 

 will ser\'e as an invaluable object lesson 

 in the advantages and practicability of 

 forest preservation by use, and will soon 

 be self-supporting from the sale of 

 timber. 



8. The agricultural resources of the 

 Southern Appalachian region must be 

 protected and preserved. To that end 

 the preservation of the forests is an in- 

 dispensable condition, which will lead 

 not to the reduction, but the increase of 

 the yield of agricultural products. 



9. The floods in these mountain born 

 streams, if this forest destruction con- 

 tinues, will increase in frequency and 

 violence and in the extent of their dam- 

 ages, both within this region and across 

 the bordering states. The extent of 

 these damages, like those from the wash- 

 ing of the mountain fields and roads, 

 cannot be estimated with perfect accu- 

 racy, but during the present 3'ear alone 

 the total has approximated $ro,ooo,ooo, 

 a sum sufficient to purchase the entire 

 area recommended for the proposed re- 

 serv^e ; but this loss cannot be estimated 

 in money value alone. Its continuance 

 means the destruction of conditions most 

 valuable to the nation, and w^hich neither 

 skill nor wealth can restore. 



10. The preservation of the forests, 

 of the streams, and of the agricultural 

 interests here described can be success- 

 fully accomplished only b>- the purchase 

 and creation of a national forest reserve. 

 The states of the Southern Appalachian 

 region own little or no land, and their 

 revenues are inadequate to carry out 

 this plan. Federal action is obviously 

 necessary, is fully justified by reasons of 

 public necessity, and may be expected 

 to have most fortunate results. 



With these conclusions I fully agree, 

 and I heartily commend this measure to 

 the favorable consideration of Congress. 

 Theodore Roosevelt. 



White House, December ig, igoi. 



