THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE MOVEMENT FOR THE PROPOSED 

 FOREST RESERVE IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 



The necessity for the preservation of the forests in the Southern 

 Appalachian region in order to prevent the washing away of the moun- 

 tain lands and the destruction of the mountains themselves has for 

 many years been advocated by the geologists working in that region. 

 Their position in this has met with the hearty approval of the forestry 

 experts and even the lumbermen who have gone into that region. The 

 growing prominence and recognized suitabilit}? of much of this region as 

 a health and pleasure resort has added this element also to the movement 

 for the preservation of these forests and rivers. The increasing violence 

 and destructiveness of the floods during the past few years, and the gen- 

 eral recognition of the fact that the continued clearing of these moun- 

 tain slopes would soon result in the absolute ruin of all the interests 

 of this region and of the adjacent lowlands in the several States — this 

 has combined and strengthened this movement in the country at large, 

 and has brought it to its present position before Congress. 



On November 23, 1899, the Appalachian National Park Association 

 was organized at Asheville, N. C, with a large membership, including 

 citizens from Northern, Southern, and Western States. On Januaiy 

 2, 1900, memorials from this Appalachian National Park Association 

 and the Appalachian Mountain Club of New England were presented 

 to Congress, asking that measures be taken looking to the preservation 

 of the Southern Appalachian forests. In response to these memorials, 

 supported by the unanimously favorable press of the country. Congress 

 incorporated in the bill carrying the appropriation for the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, a pro- 

 vision that a " sum not to exceed ^5,000 may, in the discretion of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture, be used to investigate the conditions of 

 the Southern Appalachian mountain region of Western North Carolina 

 and adjacent States.'' 



The United States Geological Survey of the Department of the 

 interior cooperated with the Department of Agriculture in this investi- 

 gation so as to have it include a studj^ of the geology and topography 

 and rivers of the region. 



In Janu.ary, 1901, the Secretary of Agriculture submitted a short 

 preliminaiy report setting forth the result of these investigations up 



■'See pp. 166-168. 



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