1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



45 



along the larger streams. These coun- 

 ties are mostly in the southern and 

 eastern parts of tfhe state, but include 

 those also cut by the Des Moines and 

 its larger tributaries, and some of those 

 which lie along the Missouri." The 

 lands in question are not suitable for 

 cultivation. He advised township and 

 county parks, to take better care of 

 private property, and that our public 

 schools should disseminate informa- 

 tion which is desirable along the line 

 of forestry. 



In his report on "Civic Improve- 

 ment and Municipal Legislation," 

 Prof. A. T. Erwin reported that the 

 destruction of trees by telephone com- 

 panies had multiplied. Rural tele- 

 phones and suburban car lines had in- 

 creased, and the question of the pro- 

 tection of trees is more important than 

 ever before. In many cases the road- 

 way is entirely too narrow. A tree 

 with a good clean trunk is highly de- 

 sirable ; such a tree is the white elm ; 

 it adapts itself more to these unfavor- 



able conditions than many others. The 

 Iowa law, if enforced, is regarded as 

 ample to protect the trees. Mr. J. C. 

 Monnett presented a long and valuable 

 paper on the legal phases of tree pro- 

 tection by property owners in various 

 parts of the United States. 



Papers were also read by Dr. J. E. 

 Cathell, who eloquently pleaded for 

 the beautifying of our cities and for 

 forest reserves to develop the goodness 

 and greatness of man. Dr. A. B. 

 Storms likewise pleaded for a greater 

 civic pride and enthusiasm in our 

 cities, citing as an illustration the nota- 

 ble work accomplished by the late Col- 

 onel Waring, of New York, and the 

 enthusiastic civic movement in many 

 cities. Professor Ashbaugh made a 

 strong plea for the preservation of cer- 

 tain lakes for forestry and park pur- 

 poses in the state. Doctor Mogridge 

 discussed the subject of school gardens 

 as a tendency to a better knowledge 

 of agricultural and horticultural prob- 

 lems of to-day. 



THE BELLE FOURCHE PROJECT 



""THE principal work of the Reclama- 

 tion Service in South Dakota this 

 year will be on the Belle Fourche 

 project. In this State attention has 

 been given only to reclamation proj- 

 ects west of Missouri River, and espe- 

 cially to those in the vicinity of the 

 Black Hills. Any reclamation of lands 

 on any of the streams of this region 

 must be founded on storage of storm 

 water and spring flow. 



The Belle Fourche River rises in 

 east-central Wyoming and flows 

 northeast, then east, draining the 

 western and northern portions of the 

 Black Hills. This project involves 

 the reclamation of lands lying north- 

 east of the Black Hills, in Butte and 

 Meade counties, South Dakota, by the 

 diversion of the waters of the Belle 

 Fourche and Red Water rivers into a 

 large basin east of the town of Belle 

 Fourche, South Dakota. This basin 



is to be converted into a storage res- 

 ervoir by the construction of an em- 

 bankment of earth, riprapped with 

 rock, across Owl Creek. 



The reservoir will be filled by a 

 large feeder canal from the river, 61-2 

 miles long, 40 feet wide on the bot- 

 tom, and capable of carrying 10 feet 

 depth of water. Additional water will 

 be obtained from Crow, Owl, Indian, 

 Horse and Willow creeks, which have 

 a large flood flow during limited pe- 

 riods. From the reservoir, which will 

 have sufficient capacity to impound 

 water for all the lands to be irrigated, 

 the water will be distributed to lands 

 in the valley on both sides of the Belle 

 Fourche River, where 80,000 acres of 

 land may be reclaimed. The land was 

 segregated July 18, 1903. The segre- 

 gation comprises 465,600 acres. 



A reconnaissance of the project was 

 made from June 22 to 25, 1903, by Mr. 



