FIFTH NATIONAI, CONSERVATION .CONGRESS 23 



TOPICS ASSIGNED 



1. Subjects demanding investigation. 



2. Responsibility for investigative work ; correlation and avoiding dupli- 

 cation. 



The report deals fully with the relation of forests and water, and while in 

 part a compilation of established facts and theories, contains some new and 

 interesting matter. The new feature concerns the effect of forests in broad con- 

 tinental valleys upon precipitation over continents. If this new -theory is correct, 

 as it seems to be, it provides even a greater justification for forest conservation 

 than the accepted view of the relation of forests to stream flow. This theory has 

 been discussed more specifically in an article entitled "The Relation of Forests 

 in the Atlantic Plain to the Humidity of the Central States and Prairie Region," 

 by the chairman, Mr. Raphael Zon, in Science, under date of July 18, 1913. 



From the summary we learn that "the facts brought out in this report clearly 

 show that there is an intimate relation between the forests, the climate, and the 

 regularity of the flow of water in the streams. 



"There are no accurate means of determining the extent of forest land 

 necessary for the regulation of stream flow and the protection of the soil against 

 erosion. From the study of conditions, however, existing in other countries, it 

 may be inferred that, in order not to disturb the natural balance, the proportion of 

 forest land to other kinds of land must be not less than one-fifth of the total area 

 of the country." 



