158 



SOUTHEKN APPALACHIAN KEGIUN. 



to that time. This report was transmitted to Congress h^' President 

 McKinley in a brief commendatory message on January 16, 1901. 



On Januar}^ 10, 1901, a bill was introduced in the Senate by Mr. 

 Pritchard, of North Carolina, which provided an appropriation of 

 $5,000,000, to be expended under the Secretar}' of Agriculture in the 

 purchase of not less than 2,000,000 acres of mountain lands in the States » 

 of Vii'ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and 

 Alabama. This bill was favorabl}' reported to the Senate b}^ the Com- 

 mittee on Forest Reservations and the Protection of Game, February 

 12, 1901.-^ 



This movement has from its beginning received the active support 

 of both the general and the technical press of the country, and it may 

 be said that this agency has done more than all others to awaken the 

 American people to the importance of preserving the remnants of our 

 forests before it is too late, and of educating them to a knowledge of 

 the fact that these forests are for this generation to legitimately use, 

 but not to destroy. 



The list of papers and periodical publications that have contained 

 articles favoring the proposed Appalachian forest reserve is too long 

 to be enumerated hei'e, but it may not be improper to mention espe- 

 cially two such articles which have recentl}^ appeared, viz, one by 

 Prof. W J McGee, of Washington, D. C, in the World's Work for 

 .November, 1901, and another by Prof. N. S. Shaler, in the North 

 American Review for December, 1901. On page 180 will be found 

 brief extracts relative to the proposed forest reserve from a few papers 

 and magazines. 



The following papers, arranged somewhat in the order of their 

 adoption, are here reproduced so as to make them more accessible to 

 those who may have occasion to refer to them: 



MEMORIAL, OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 

 America: 



The petition of the Appalachian Mountain Club respectfully shows. 



That your petitioner is an organization of about 1,200 members, com- 

 posed principalh' of residents of Boston, Mass., and New England, 

 with scattering members throughout the Union, organized in January. 

 1876, and reoi-ganized and chartered as a corporation by the Common- 

 wealth of Massachusetts in April, 1878. 



That its object is to bring together for cooperation all those inter- 

 ested in the mountains of New England and adjacent regions. * * * 

 To combine the energies of all those who are interested in efforts not 

 only to preserve the present beauty and attractiveness of our mountain 

 resorts — and in particular their forests — but also to render them more 



»Seep. 168. 



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