WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE 



11 



uses and for irrigation comes, in many cases, from rain and snow 

 falling on the mountains and hills. Here also are the headwaters 

 of many of our navigable rivers. Congress, therefore, made the 

 preservation of conditions favorable to stream flow one of the prin- 

 cipal objects in the establishment and administration of the national 

 forests. 



It has been increasingly apparent that upon the condition of the 

 watersheds depends the stability of many communities. The rela- 

 tionship of watershed protection to floods and electric-power genera - 



Figure 



-The woodland bed of a mountain stream, Wagner Falls, near Munising, Mich. 



tion has been brought into sharper focus by events of recent years 

 that have emphasized the importance of a vegetative cover over wide 

 areas. 



Permanent operation of power plants depends in large measure 

 upon regularity of the water supply and the checking of silting. 

 Along the streams within the national forests are many sites suit- 

 able for power development. These are open to occupancy for such 

 purpose. The Government does not permit monopolization of 

 power, however, in any region or allow power sites to be held on 

 national-forest land without prompt development. Where scenic 

 or other values outweigh the value of a particular site for power, 

 the principle of greatest use to the greatest number operates to pre- 

 serve the site for the larger purpose. 



A well-kept forest is the best of natural soil holders and is Nature's 

 great water reservoir. Where there is no vegetation, particularly on 

 steep slopes, there is nothing but the friction of the soil to keep water 



