166 



SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 

 ON THE FORESTS OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



To the Senate and Home of Repvt Kcntatives: 



I transmit herewith, for the inforiiuition of the Congress, m letter 

 from the Secretary of Agriculture, in which he presents a preliminary 

 report of the investigations upon the forests of the Southern Appala- 

 chian Mountain region. Upon the basis of the facts estal)lish(>d l)y 

 this investigation the Secretar}^ of Agricultui'c recommends the pur- 

 chase of land for a national forest reserve in western North Carolina, 

 eastern Tennessee, and adjacent States. I commend to the favorable 

 consideration of the Congress the reasons upon which the recommend- 

 ation rests. 



William McKinley. 



Executive Mansion, January 16, 1901. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Office of the Secretart, 

 Washington,, I). (J. , Jan uary 3, 1901. 



The Presideni: 



The bill malving appropriations for the Department of Agriculture 

 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, provides that a "sum not to 

 exceed $5,000 m?ij, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 be used to investigate the forest conditions in the Southern Appala- 

 chian Mountain region of western North Carolina and adjacent States." 

 In accordance with this provision I have made a thorough investiga- 

 tion of the forests in a portion of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, 

 as directed above, including an estimate of the amount and condition 

 of the standing timber, an inquiry as to the suitability of this region 

 for a national park, as proposed b_y the Appalachian National Park 

 Association, and an examination of the validity of the reasons advanced 

 by its advocates for the creation of such a park. In this task I have 

 received generous and effective cooperation and assistance, through 

 the United States Geological Survey, from the Department of the Inte- 

 rior, which recognized in this way the deep and widel}' diff used public 

 interest in the plan. 



The forest investigation was made to include a study of the charac- 

 ter and distribution of the species of timber trees, the density and 

 value of forest growth, the extent to which the timber has been cut 

 or damaged b}' fire, the size and nature of the present holdings, the 

 prices at which these forest lands can now be jjurchased, and the gene- 

 ral and special conditions that affect the prosecution of conservative 

 foi'cstry on a large scale. 



