ADMINISTRATION 67 



may reduce stream flow, and the rapid rate at which 

 unused reservoir and power sites in the Forests are 

 being developed, all are evidences of the importance 

 of Forests in protecting water supplies. Refor- 

 estation is essential so that the National Forests 

 can effectively discharge this function. 



Government Reforestation Policy. The duty of 

 the Forest Service to put the denuded areas which 

 will not be reforested naturally into a condition of 

 productivity admits of no further argument. But 

 the problem is not so easily solved as it is made 

 clear. Under the semi-arid conditions prevailing 

 on many National Forests this work involves un- 

 certainties and unsolved problems. On the Na- 

 tional Forests artificial reforestation was an untried 

 field when the Forest Service entered it. The Gov- 

 ernment therefore had to develop its own practice 

 in the face of a great variety of conditions, largely 

 unfavorable. The situation still calls for intensive 

 experiments to develop the best methods from the 

 standpoint of both cost and results. More than 

 that, it calls for a different set of methods for each 

 forest region of the West which has its peculiar 

 trees, climate, and soils. Then, lastly, when the 



