68 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



olina, Georgia and Alabama. In 1906 

 this region produced about half of the 

 hardwood used in this country. It is 

 safe to say that fully one-half of the 

 present supply is within this area. It 

 is a non-agricultural region. The rain- 

 fall is such that the growth per acre 

 per year is the largest to be found 

 anywhere -in the hardwood areas of 

 America. It is an accessible region. 

 A large part of it has already been 

 cut off and the best removed, with 

 plenty yet remaining upon the 

 ground. Lumbermen are already en- 

 gaged in cleaning up the second time, 

 leaving nothing behind. 



"A Grand Rapids lumberman said 

 the other dav that he was cutting tim- 



* O 



ber perfectly clean from the moun- 

 tains, and very soon erosion would 

 ci^ar off nearly all of the soil and 

 nothing would be left but rock. A 

 thousand years of the most persistent 

 and careful work in reforestation 

 would not again rehai>ilitate the reg'on 

 which he is devastating. His excuse 

 for doing it was that if he didn't the 

 other fellow would ?nd he wanted the 

 dollar. In the same conversation lie 

 remarked there was only one way in 

 which this destruction could be pre- 

 vented, and that was for the strong 

 hand of the Government to s-jy the 

 axe and afterward guide it in ;ta work 

 of gathering in the timber." 



Roosevelt President Ligon John- 

 Pleased at son of the Appalachian 

 Organization XT ,. , ,- A 



National Forest Asso- 

 ciation, has received a letter from 

 President Roosevelt, warmly indors- 

 ing the work of the association rela- 

 tive to the preservation of the Appal- 

 achian forests. The President's let- 

 ter quotes a speech he delivered at 

 Raleigh, N. C., in October, 1905, and 

 then says further: 



"We know also that these forests 

 are of the utmost importance to navi- 

 gation on the streams to which they 

 give rise. All the water which falls 

 in the Southern Appalachians goes to 

 the sea through navigable channels, 

 which it has cost the Government over 

 $30,000,000 to keep clear from sand, 



silt and gravel. This detritus is in- 

 creasing every year as the mountains 

 are denuded of their cover. 



"The task of cleaning out. the South- 

 ern streams and harbors grows heav- 

 ier each year. Until we remove the 

 cause by protecting these mountain 

 forests from fire and reckless cutting, 

 we shall inevitably expend increasing 

 sums without permanent results. 



''Eight years ago the movement for 

 the purchase of these forests took 

 definite shape. While it has grown, 

 and is stronger now than ever, its 

 merits should make it far stronger 

 than it is. Therefore I am pleased at 

 the organization of your association 

 with the definite purpose of getting 

 these forests established. As I said 

 in my last message to Congress 'we 

 should acquire in the Appalachian and 

 White Mountain region the forest 

 lands that it is possible to acquire for 

 the use of the Nation.' ' 



President Roosevelt's 

 admirable letter to the 

 Appalachian National 

 Forest Association eloquently con- 

 firms what was formerly believed, 

 and indeed known, concerning his at- 

 titude toward the proposed Appalach- 

 ian and White Mountain National 

 Forests namely, that he is strongly 

 in favor of acquiring in those regions 

 all the forest lands which it is possible 

 to acquire for the use of the Nation. 

 It is one of the exasperating anoma- 

 lies of our governmental system that 

 a policv of inestimable importance, 

 earnestly approved and desired by 

 the President, his Cabinet, a majority 

 of both houses of Congress, the gov- 

 ernors and governments of the States 

 concerned, and the great majority of 

 intelligent and thoughtful people 

 throughout the Nation, may be arbi- 

 trarily and capriciously "held up" and 

 postponed, if not permanently defeat- 

 ed. Netv York Tribune. 



National There are ten or more 



National Parks west of 

 the Mississippi River, set 



aside for their scenic beauty. There 



