SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 171 



is called, in reply, to the accompanying letter from the Secretary of 

 Agriculture, in which he says: "I am entirely confident that very 

 soon after its creation the proposed reserve would, under conservative 

 forestry, be self-supporting from the sale of timber." Further, it 

 may be said that many European forests, under government supervi- 

 sion, 3deld a net annual income from the sale of timber and other 

 products of fi'om $1 to |2 per acre or more. While no such income is 

 expected to result from the proposed reserve in the immediate future, 

 yet it is confidentlv expected that in the course of a few years this 

 reserve will be self-supporting; and that subsequently, as the hard- 

 wood forests of other regions ai-e cut awa}' and the countrj- more 

 thickl}' settled, the sale of timber and other products from this reserve 

 will yield a considerable net profit. 



Other important questions connected with this measure which have 

 been considered by the committee are fully answej'ed in the statement 

 which follows from the Secretary of Agriculture. The memorial of 

 the Appalachian National Park Association and other documents are 

 added. 



The legislatures of the several States within which the proposed 

 forest reserve ma}' be located, with a single exception, have alread}^ 

 conferred upon Congress the necessary authority to acquire lands 

 within their boundaries. In the case of the exception a resolution 

 which indorses the plan has passed both houses of the legislature, and 

 further action may confidently be expected in due time. 



This is a measure which has every consideration in its favor: and, 

 in view of its importance and the beneficent results which will cer- 

 tainly flow from its adoption, it should commend itself to the wisdom 

 of Congress, as it must appeal to the patriotism of every citizen. 



APPENDIX. 



February 9, 1901. 



My Dear Senator: I am in receipt of your letter of this date, in wliicli you ask 

 for an expression of my opinion regarding Senate bill 5.518, which provides for the 

 purchase of a forest reserve in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. After a thor- 

 ough investigation of the forest conditions of this region, 1 am heartily in favor of the 

 creation of the proposed reserve and of Mr. Pritchard's bill. The region in which it 

 is proposed to locate this reserve contains the finest hard-wood forests yet remaining 

 in the United States; it is admirably adapted to the purposes of a public resort for 

 health and recreation; the land may be jiurchased at a reasonable price; the preser- 

 vation of the forest is essential not only to the well-being of the region itself, but to 

 that of great rivers which flow from it and to the interests they subserve; and I am 

 entirely confident that very soon after its creation the proposed reserve would, under 

 conservative forestry, be self-supporting from the sale of timber. 

 Very respectfully, 



James Wilson, Secretary. 



Hon. Albert J. Beveridge, 



United States Senate. 



You will find a more detailed statement of my position in my tetter to the President, 

 transmitted by him to the Congress January 16. (See p. 166. ) 



