waters to congregate in streams, and tends to insure 
continuity of stream flow throughout the dry sum- 
mer months. Perhaps even more important, it 
protects the soil against abnormal erosion. 
In view of the heavy precipitation, it is fortunate 
that cut-over areas in this region normally become 
clothed with a cover of grass, weeds, or shrubs 
within 2 or 3 years after logging. Such a cover 
gives watersheds considerable protection from 
erosion, but is much less effective in retarding run- 
off and preventing abnormal erosion than a com- 
plete forest canopy, is inherently temporary in 
nature, and is highly inflammable. The area of 
cut-over land has increased rapidly in the last 20 
years and the average quality of the watershed cov- 
er has correspondingly lowered. Floods in some 
20 to 30 streams west of the summit of the Cascade 
Range cause damage to lowland property estimat- 
ed at $1,000,000 io $2,000,000 or more annually. 
In spite of the importance of forests in this region, 
little positive information is available here con- 
cerning the relation of forest cover to stream flow 
and erosion. The problem is so complex that su- 
perficial observation will not answer; detailed stud- 
ies of different types of forest cover under varying 
climatic, soil, and topographic conditions are 
urgently needed. 
It is evident, however, that the prevailing practice 
of clear cutting and slash burning accelerates run- 
off and that this continues until a new cover is 
established; considerable soil washing and gullving, 
started often in the skid trails made by logging 
machinery, is evident on the steeper freshly logged 
slopes. Sheet erosion and consequent soil deple- 
tion are a natural consequence of heavy rains where 
the beneficent cover is completely removed and the 
debris and the humus burned away. As the area of 
poorly stocked logged-off land grows larger the 
lack of that run-off regulation and soil conservation 
which the original forest gave will be more notice- 
able. More and more, logging and slash-burning 
operations are reaching the steeper slopes of the 
mountains, and here the dangers are greater that 
accelerated run-off and soil deterioration will ensue 
unless precautionary forest practices are adopted. 
The only areas where occupancy and use of the 
forest are restricted in order to regulate run-off 
are the watersheds of several streams that supply 
water for municipalities, aggregating about 200,000 
76 
acres. This protection is given to insure the purity 
of the water supply and the volume and regularity 
of its flow. 
Recreation 
Few other sections of the United States are so for- 
tunate as the Pacific Northwest in its outdoor re- 
creational facilities. The abundant forests, streams, 
lakes, and snowclad mountains of the Douglas- 
fir region, as well as its seashore, are so accessible 
that they can be enjoyed with little effort or ex- 
pense. Good hunting and fishing are still to be 
had within easy access of the cities and towns. 
The development of highways and motor transpor- 
tation in recent years has extended this accessibility 
until at present most of the forest land is used to 
some degree for recreation, not only by the local 
population, but by many tourists from other States. 
Even areas rendered unsightly by logging or fire 
are frequented by hunters and fishermen. The 
recreational resource is thus a very real asset, as this 
region becomes more and more one of the national 
playgrounds. 
Much of this recreational use conflicts in no way 
with timber production; only 959,300 acres are re- 
served from logging to preserve certain distinctive 
recreational features. Of this area approximately 
two-thirds is on national forests. The reservations 
include 472,500 acres of commercial forest land in 
conifers, but not the 331,600 acres of nonforest land, 
such as glaciers, rocky barrens, and alpine meadows 
within the recreational reserves. Among the lands 
reserved for recreation are such nationally famous 
areas as Mount Rainier National Park, Crater Lake 
National Park (which borders this region), Mount 
Olympus National Park, Mount Hood and Colum- 
bia Gorge recreational areas on the Mount Hood 
National Forest, and the Mount Baker recreational 
area and North Cascade primitive area on the 
Mount Baker National Forest. In addition to such 
reservations, practically all of the remaining na- 
tional-forest land is available for recreational use. 
Along the roads on the national forests of this region 
there are 803 forest camps where facilities are main- 
tained for overnight camping as well as picnicking. 
The remarkable increase in popularity of winter 
sports has been responsible for the recent develop- 
ment of a number of areas for this specific purpose. 
The subalpine forests on the slopes of the Cascade 
Ba ee 
