Municipal Forests. 



39 



in preventing erosion with its deposits of sediment. The steep slopes 

 along the river that have been cultivated iij years past have largely 

 contributed to the accumulation of silt which has collected behind the 

 dams built for storage purposes and has clogged the river channels, 

 increasing the frequency of floods, and carrying immense quantities 

 of silt into the upper Patapsco near Baltimore, requiring the expendi- 

 ture of large sums of money for dredging. A very informing illustra- 

 tion of the silt acciimulatiou is shown by the accompanying cut, taken 

 from a photograph along the Patapsco River in front of a dam that 

 had been in use but ten years. This mass of sediment, extending for a 

 quarter of a mile along the river bed, represents but a small part of 

 the surface erosion from cultivated lands along the steep banks of the 

 Patapsco in ten years' time. 



The onlj' remedy is to get these steep hillsides under a forest cover 

 as quickly as possible, which is one of the objects of the State in ac- 

 quiring the lands now in the Patapsco Reserve. 



MUNICIPAL FORESTS. 

 Some of the cities of the State have acquired forest lands in the 

 vicinity of their water supplies for protection purposes. The manage- 

 ment of these lands has become a distinct problem of municipal 

 forestry. There are two notable examples of municipal forest o'wner- 

 .ship in the State, one, the City of Baltimore, the other, the City of 

 Frederick. Other towns and cities have small holdings of land around 

 their reservoirs, but not of sufficient acreage to be designated as muni- 

 cipal forests. 



Baltimore City has acquired appoximately 5,000 acres about its 

 city reservoir at Loch Raven, in Baltimore County, of which 1,000 

 acres is submerged, 2,000 acres wooded and 2,000 acres is in cleared 

 fields. Of the latter, 250 acres have been recently planted in small 

 forest trees, and it is the plan of the City to continue forest planting 

 each year until the remaining cleared land is entirely planted and. 

 supporting a forest growth. The aim is to bring as rapidly as possible 

 all open land under a forest cover to prevent soil erosion and silting of 

 the reservoir, and at the same time to make the resulting forests a 

 source of revenue as well as of scenic beauty. 



FrcdericJ;. — The city of Frederick lias likewise acquired a muni- 

 cipal forest of approximately 1,200 acres, covering a part of the moun- 

 tain watershed from which its water supply is derived. It is planned 

 to make further purchases for the same purpose. While this forest 

 is principally for protection, it should also be a source of revenue as 

 a forest. This was shown by the forest survey made l^y the State 

 Board of Forestry prior to its purchase. The Board of Forestry is 



