upstream areas. The restoration of this humus by 

 the establishment of adequate forest cover would do 

 much to lessen flood damages. 



Susquehanna River floods must be traced to causes 

 outside the region and dealt with where those causes 

 lie. Floods in the Lehigh River, however, in the 

 Lackawaxen, and in Solomon's Creek are due to 

 local conditions and must be met with local action. 



One problem demanding special attention is the 

 occurrence of landslides in the Lehigh Gorge between 

 Mauch Chunk and White Haven. Here steep slopes 

 with loosely embedded boulders and sparse vegeta- 

 tion overhang railroads along both sides of the river, 

 and periodically precipitate, tons of earth onto the 

 railroad beds. Several such landslides (fig. 9) took 



place in conjunction with the 1942 flood and, together 

 with wash-outs, resulted in damage estimated at more 

 than a million dollars. Minor slides occur from time 

 to time, especially below Rockport on the slopes of 

 Bald Mountain and Summer Mountain, and the 

 threat of other destructive slides is constant. 



Typical of these slides was one on Bald Mountain 

 about a quarter of a mile west of the Rockport station 

 of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The moun- 

 taintop has been badly burned and the runoff is 

 rapid. Near the top of the slope depressions per- 

 mitted accumulated surface water to enter the ground 

 and form an underground stream. The slide occurred 

 when this underground stream broke loose and dis- 

 lodged the entire land mass. 



ATTEMPTS AT IMPROVEMENT 



The people of the Anthracite Forest Region are not 

 unaware of the problems arising from past misuse of 

 the forests. Several agencies and individuals have 

 made a good start toward improving the situation. 

 But in spite of all that has been done, the situation is 

 still serious. In all of the forest problems — fire con- 

 trol, reforestation, timber management, flood control, 

 watershed protection, and development of recreation 

 facilities — much remains to be done. 



The public agency that has made the greatest 

 contribution to the solution of these problems is the 

 Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters. 

 This agency is responsible for fire prevention and 

 control in the State. It is also charged with re- 

 sponsibility for reforestation; and its nurseries provide 

 seedlings at nominal cost to anyone who wishes to 

 plant them for timber production or watershed pro- 

 tection. In the 128,000 acres of State forests which it 

 administers in the Anthracite Forest Region the de- 

 partment is carrying out programs of timber improve- 

 ment and recreational development. It also co- 

 operates with other public and private organizations 

 such as the United States Forest Service, the Exten- 

 sion Service, and civic groups interested in forestry. 



Numerous private agencies have also contributed to 

 the gradual improvement in forest conditions in the 

 region. As early as 1902 the Pocono Forestry As- 

 sociation of Monroe County was organized as a "fire 

 protective association"; this organization now con- 

 cerns itself largely with reforestation and forestry 

 education. Other local fire-fighting organizations 

 have come and gone. In 1917 the Anthracite Forest 

 Protective Association was formed with headquarters 



at Hazleton, and concerned itself for a number of 

 years with educational programs as well as fire 

 control. A forest-fire-fighting organization was es- 

 tablished and flourished for a short time in the 

 borough of Mount Carmel. 



Outstanding among the private agencies now 

 stimulating good forest management is the Wyoming 

 Valley Chamber of Commerce in Wilkes-Barre. 

 Although fire prevention and control is the major 

 purpose of this organization, it has a broad program of 

 forest improvement. In 1939 it set up an industrial 

 forestry committee, and a year later it organized an 

 industrial forestry division. 



The chamber of commerce has also concerned 

 itself with the establishment and management of 

 community and county forests. In 1942, at the 

 request of the Luzerne County commissioners, the 

 chamber of commerce made an appraisal of 6,397 

 acres of tax-delinquent forest lands. It recommended 

 that about 2,900 acres be retained by the county as a 

 county forest to demonstrate good fire protection, 

 woodland management, watershed protection, and 

 recreational uses. The county commissioners ap- 

 proved the plan and authorized the industrial forester 

 of the chamber of commerce to serve as county 

 forester. 



The chamber of commerce has given strong backing 

 to farm forestry and it works in close collaboration with 

 the farm forester of the area. It has also given 

 valuable assistance to absentee owners, banks, mine- 

 timber operators, and others, especially in inventory- 

 ing and evaluating forest properties and in marketing 

 woodland products. It has supported reforestation 



10 



Miscellaneous Publication 648, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



