38 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



NATIONAL rOEESTS WOULD AID LOCAL INDUSTRIES. 



If established, national forests should in every wa}' benefit the 

 industries of the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain regions. 

 Their influence upon the lumber industry would be to make it per- 

 manent rather than temporary-, because its supply of raw material 

 would be made permanent. As rapidly as the timber on the forests 

 became large enough to be used it would be sold, but the young tim- 

 ber would be reserved from sale, protected, and held for a future crop. 



The action of the Government in protecting from fire large areas 

 of forest would largely solve the fire problem in the two regions. 

 Forest fires are the greatest obstacle to private forestry throughout 

 the Appalachians. Let this be removed, and private forestry in 

 many localities will become not only entirely practicable but rela- 

 tively simple. In this result alone the national forests would be of 

 great help to the lumber industry. 



To mining and prospecting the national forests would introduce 

 no obstacles, as both operations could go on within the forests unhin- 

 dered, just as they do in the Western States. In general, the Gov- 

 ernment should piirchase the land without the mineral rights, and 

 where the mineral rights were obtained regular provision snould be 

 made for their disposal. On the other hand, by insuring a future 

 timber supply the reserves would be of the greatest vahie to the 

 mines, which consume great quantities of wood. Often the profita- 

 bleness of mining is determined solely by the presence or absence 

 of a good supply of mining timbers. 



To farming and fruit growing the national forests should give 

 material stimulus. The protection of the higher mountain slopes 

 wovild greatly increase the safety of farming and fruit growing in 

 the valleys below. No agricultural lands should be includecl. Should 

 it be necessary to purchase small tracts of farming land in order to 

 obtain large areas of important mountain land, provision should be 

 made for reselling or otherwise utilizing them. The forests need not 

 interfere in the slightest degree with the settlers who own and cul- 

 tivate small areas of farm land along the mountain streams. Neither 

 would they stop the use of the mountains for grazing where there 

 is proper food for stock. The high mountain tops or "balds" which 

 sometimes would be included, and other good grass lands, could be 

 grazed without interfering with the purposes of the forests. 



The many other uses which can be made of the mountains would 

 be facilitated rather than liindered. Such uses are for power develop- 

 ment, hotel and residence sites, rights of way, and sawmills. The 

 forests would not reduce the population of the region; on the con- 

 trary, they would increase the population by increasing the demand 

 for labor and making more stable and permanent the local industries. 



It has been raised as an objection against the proposed forests that 

 they would reduce the funds of the counties aff ectea, by cuffing down 

 the taxable property. This should not be the case. In the West 

 the Government returns to the counties 10 per cent of all revenues 

 received from its forests in them. This more than compensates for 

 the loss of taxes. The same should be done in the East. 



To the local residents of the Appalachian region the forests should 

 be of great benefit. In addition to the protection they would give to 

 farming and the permanence they would give to the lumber industry, 



