PRESIDENT FAVORS SOUTHERN 



RESERVE 



Reprint of his special message to Congress in which he strongly favors the 

 creation of a National Forest Reserve in the Southern Appalachian Mountains 



To the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatives: 



I transmit herewith a report of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture, prepared in 

 collaboration with the Department of 

 the Interior, upon the forests, rivers, 

 and mountains of the Southern Ap- 

 palachian region, and upon its agri- 

 cultural situation as affected by them. 

 The report of the Secretary presents 

 the final results of an investigation 

 authorized by the last Congress. Its 



conclusions point unmistakably, in the 

 judgment of the Secretary and in my 

 own, to the creation of a national for- 

 est reserve in certain parts of the 

 Southern States. The facts ascer- 

 tained and here presented deserve the 

 careful consideration of -the Congress; 

 they have already received the full at- 

 tention of the scientist and the lumber- 

 man. They set forth an economic need 

 of prime importance to the welfare of 

 the South, and hence to that of the 



Debris from Floods on Nolichucky River, East Tennessee. May 21, 1901 

 This debris consisting of the wreck of farmhouses, furniture, bridges, cattle, and probably 

 several human bodies, coveted 6 acres of fertile farm land near Erwin, Tenn. The 

 Southern Appalachian region is one with an exceedingly heavy rainfall, and though they 

 cannot entirely prevent floods the preservation of the forests on the mountain slopes 

 will minimize the damage from them. 



