1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



379 



whole forest policy of the State. This 

 change will not be for the better, but 

 will undermine a carefully-prepared 

 policy which promises to place Cali- 

 fornia to the fore of all other states in 

 the matters of applied forest legisla- 

 tion. 



If the lumberman is not reached, 

 and state and Federal forestry is ap- 

 plied in only the National reserves and 

 state parks, the tendency of the people 

 will be to overlook this work and say 

 that the expected results have not 

 been forthcoming. The reserve ad- 

 ministration would persist despite 

 such a sentiment, but it would take 

 even less than this to turn the State 

 Legislature against forestry, and se- 

 cure the repeal of the forest law. It 

 is of the utmost importance then that 

 every effort be made through coopera- 

 tion and education, to secure the most 

 complete utilization without destruc- 

 tion of the private forest lands within 

 the state. 



Demonstrations of the results bound 

 to follow if present logging methods 

 continue unmodified are not wanting. 

 The American River to-day finds 

 source in a well-forested region in the 

 central Sierra, and maintains a full, 

 well-regulated flow throughout the 

 year. Practically its entire drainage 

 basin is owned by two lumber com- 

 panies, one of which is cutting at the 

 rate of 50,000,000 board feet per year. 

 The changes in the condition of the 

 watersheds of the American River 

 which these operations are rapidly 

 bringing about cannot fail to have a 

 most marked influence on the char- 

 acter of the streamflow. The flood 

 situation in the Sacramento Valley is 

 becoming more serious yearly, and 

 thousands of acres of valuable wheat 

 land are lost through inundation or 

 gullied beyond repair. A plan costin-j 

 into the millions is projected for the 

 control of these floodwaters. The 

 Sacramento River is fed by numerous 

 tributaries which flow from the for- 

 ested slopes of the adjacent mountains. 

 These timberlands are under rapid 

 exploitation, and the retaining forest 



cover is removed from thousands of 

 acres annually. This means that the 

 speed of the runoff and the amount of 

 debris and silt carried by the streams 

 will increase indefinitely. Conse- 

 quently, dredging the main river, 

 straightening the channel, and con- 

 structing dikes in the valley, will not 

 touch the root of the evil ; in order to 

 be of permanent value all such work 

 must look to an increasing volume of 

 floodwater in keeping with the disturb- 

 ance of the watershed cover by log- 

 ging operations. 



Another example is found in the 

 San Bernardino region in southern 

 California, where every inch of water 

 is carefully utilized and future agricul- 

 tural expansion is wholly dependent 

 on the development of an additional 

 water supply. The entire mountain 

 range adjacent to the rich fruit lands 

 of the valley is within the San Ber- 

 nardino Forest Reserve. Most of this 

 reserve, however, is covered with 

 chaparral, and the small stands of 

 timber on the only true forest land 

 in the region is owned by lumber- 

 men, who are cutting it rapidly. For- 

 tunately, most of this timber occurs on 

 the drainage basins of streams which 

 flow into the Mohave Desert and are 

 lost ; yet the reduction of this land to 

 chaparral or barrenness will have its 

 effect on the water supply, and es- 

 pecially on a new irrigating reservoir 

 which is under construction. 



The general effects of the present 

 methods of logging private land in 

 California are several. The tendency 

 is everywhere strong for cut-over land 

 to revert to chaparral, and repeated 

 fires continually reader this condition 

 worse by killing the reproduction and 

 ultimately the seed-trees. Through its 

 sprouting powers the chaparral is thus 

 extended over large areas which can- 

 not be reclaimed by natural proces^e^ 

 as long as existin <litions prevail. 



In California, as elsewhere, lire is tin- 

 greatest hindrance to applied forestry. 

 The floor of the virgin forest burns 

 over readily, but it is not until the land 

 is loggvd that the (ires attain their 



