30 



SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



(Sec PI. LXXll . ) Almost the same language might be used 

 in describing- the gorge cut by tlic Pigeon River aca'oss 

 the Unaka Mountains southwest of Asheville; and there 

 are a luimber of others cutting the Blue Ridge und l^nalvas 

 at different points that are worth}- of comparison with 

 these. The same may be said of the gorges of the Tallulah 

 and other streams in northern Georgia. 



But notwithstanding the steepness of the slopes of these 

 gorges, even where the descent is almost precipitous, they 

 are forest-covered except where the trees and shrubs have 

 been destroA'ed b}'^ lire and the soil has been removed bv 

 the storms. ^ (See Pis. XXIX and XLII.) 

 Irregularity of The perpetuation of the streams and the maintenance of 



streams in re- ... , ,i t i • . 



gions largely their regular now, so as to prevent lioods and maintain 

 their water powers, are among the prime objects of forest 

 preservation in the Southern Appalachians. Nothing illus- 

 trates the need of this more fullj^ than the fact that on the 

 neighboring streams, lying wholly within the Piedmont 

 plateau, where the forests have been cleared from areas 

 aggregating from 60 to 80 per cent of the whole, floods 

 are frequent and excessive. During the seasons of pro- 

 tracted drought some of the smaller streams almost disap- 

 pear, and the use of water power along their course is 

 either abandoned or largelj^ supplemented by steam power. 



To-da}^ the larger valuable water powers in the South 

 Atlantic region are mainl}^ limited to the streams which have 

 their sources among the Southern Appalachian Mountains; 

 and the waters of these streams show a striking uniformity 

 of flow as compared with the streams lying wholly within 

 the adjacent lowland country, where forest clearing has been 

 excessive. AVhile the rainfall is somewhat greater in the 

 mountain region, it is a question of the regularity rather 

 than the volume of flow, and this depends upon the water 

 storage. The soil in the one region is as deep as in the 

 other, and the slopes being gentler in the low countr}-, 

 other things being equal, the water would soak into it the 

 iate°tiie^flow^of more easil}^ In the mountain region itself the flow of the 

 streams. streams along which proportionateh' large clearings have 

 been made has become decidedly more irregular, and the 

 flood damages have greatly exceeded those along other 

 streams where the forests have not been disturbed. The 

 problem resolves itself into one of a forest cover for the 

 soil. 



This is just what one would expect who has been, during 

 a rainy season, in the heart of a mountain region where 



