546 PKOCEEDINGS OF THE WASHINGTON MEETING 



COMMUNICATION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCERNING THE 

 APPALACHIAN FOREST RESERVE 



The Secretary presented a recommendation from the Council that the 

 following address and resolution, offered by Professor J. A. Holmes, be 

 adopted, and that a special committee, consisting of the President of the 

 Society and Professor Holmes, with power to add to their number, be 

 appointed to present the communication to the Speaker of the House of 

 Representatives. 



To the Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. 



Sir : The geologists of this countrj' have for many years shown an active interest 

 in the preservation of forests as a means of perpetuating the regular flow of 

 streams in the interest of navigation, waterpower, and agricultural developments, 

 and of protecting land surfaces on mountain slopes. 



In connection with the vitally important measure now before Congress, which 

 provides for the establishment of a national forest reserve among the southern 

 Appalachian mountains,, the members of the Geological Society beg to call attention 

 to the facts : 



That the numerous lakes, marshes, and gravel deposits which in the more 

 northern states serve to regulate the flow of the streams are entirely absent from 

 this southern mountain region ; 



That the grass sod wliich northward retards the washing away of the soil on 

 slopes cleared of their forests on these southern mountains does not exist sufliiciently 

 to serve this useful purpose ; 



That in this southern Appalachian region the forest is the only agency that can 

 prevent the rapid and destructive erosion of these mountain slopes by the heavy 

 rains and the silting up of the streams having their sources in this region ; 



That these forests and the soil which they hold in place are the only agencies in 

 this region which can regulate the flow of these streams, thus serving to protect 

 their waterpowers and navigation and to prevent the destructive floods which, 

 with increasing frequency and violence, are destroying not only the high lands of 

 the mountain region, but also the lowland farms along all these rivers for hundreds 

 of miles, across more than half a dozen states, and which floods will undoubtedly 

 increase as the forest destruction continues. 



The above facts, considered in connection with the steepness of these mountains 

 and the excessiveh^ heavy and irregular rainfall on their slopes, render certain the 

 early and complete ruin of this valuable portion of our country if this present 

 policy is continued. 



These facts, together with the extent and importance of the streams and the 

 number of states involved, makes this measure stand alone before the country as 

 a national problem and a national necessity. 



Resolved, That the Geological Society of America therefore respectfully asks tliat 

 the Senate bill (5228) now on the calendar of the House of Representatives, pro- 

 viding for the establishment of a national forest reserve in the southern Appala- 

 chian region, be brought before the House for action upon it before the end of the 

 present session of Congress ; 



Resolved, That the Geological Society of America further respectfully petitions 

 the House of Representatives to act on this measure promptly and favorably, in 



