L906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



267 



trunks, the. inclination of trees and in- 

 terlocking of branches, the prostra- 

 tion of considerable tracts of forest, 

 the snapping off of the trunks by the 

 rush of waters near the Mississippi, 

 the precipitation of trees into the 

 streams by caving banks, the complete 

 uprooting and removal of the entire 

 vegetable covering of many of the is- 

 lands (which themselves, in some in- 

 stances, were completely destroyed), 

 the overturning and prostration by 

 landslides, and the submergence of 

 great areas by ponded waters. 



Over how great an area the forests 

 were destroyed is difficult to say at 

 the present time. Reelfoot Lake alone 

 probably covered 125 square miles of 



forest, while the swamps formed at 

 this time to the west of the Mississippi 

 probably covered 75 square miles or 

 more in addition. These two causes 

 alone would account for the destruc- 

 tion of over 125,000 acres. The 

 amount of timber lost by the caving of 

 the banks and by the overwhelming 

 of the islands would probably bring 

 the total to 150,000 acres. To this still 

 further additions must be made of the 

 areas in which the timber was over- 

 thrown by landslides or other causes. 

 No estimate of this can now be made, 

 but it was undoubtedly considerable. 

 That the destruction was sufficient to 

 give earthquakes a place among the 

 enemies of the forest can not be dis- 

 puted. 



AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENT IN 



FOREST RESERVES 



Important Law Enacted by Congress Affecting Settlers in Reserves 



BY 



GEORGE W. WOODRUFF 



In Charge of Section of Law, United States Forest Service. 



'"THE enemies, and even the more 

 * critical friends, of forest reserves 

 have harped upon the fact that, no 

 matter how much care is exercised in 

 choosing forest reserve boundaries, it 

 is impossible to avoid the inclusion of 

 land actually valuable for agriculture. 

 Those who are hostile to the reserves 

 declare that these areas are large and 

 valuable, and that their inclusion in 

 the forest reserve takes away from the 

 people a much-desired opportunity to 

 build homes and thriving communities. 

 Fair-minded critics, on the other hand, 

 although they admit that the tracts 

 are small and isolated, have deplored 

 the necessity of withholding any pure- 

 ly agricultural land from use by home- 

 stead settlers. 



The Forest Service aimed to remedy 

 this difficulty in the past by issuing 



permits to cultivate agricultural areas, 

 not exceeding 40 acres, to any person 

 who would actually live upon and cul- 

 tivate such tracts. In addition it al- 

 lowed such permittees to take, with- 

 out charge, sufficient forest reserve 

 timber for fences and buildings in con- 

 nection with the enjoyment of the 

 agricultural privilege. Recently the 

 Secretary of Agriculture has approved 

 a regulation to take effect July 1, that 

 such agricultural permits may be al- 

 lowed by the Forester to the maximum 

 of 160 acres. By this means, those 

 willing to make their homes in the 

 forests, were and are offered an oppor- 

 tunity to do so. 



There was one drawback, however, 

 namely that such permittees lacked 

 one great incentive to improve their 

 homes to the utmost. It was impos- 



