Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Appalachian National Park Association Newspaper Clippings, 1899-1902

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  • COUNTRY LIFE IN AMERICA May, 1902 been expended in the effort to stay this sea of sand, but little has been accomplished except to demonstrate the futility of the methods employed. Can we not profit by the experience of older countries? Should we not to-day realize that in a few years we will be exactly where they are to-day? We annually appropriate large sums to dredge our river harbors. Of what? Of the wash that has come down from the uplands—wash which in great part would never have occurred but for the unscientific handling of the forest lands at the headwaters of these rivers. We dredge, too, because the waters of our harbors are failing. Will this failure diminish under the present pro- again, each succeeding fire burns deeper into the ground, destroys more of the root mass, and as a rule after two or three fires the soil will begin to wash. There are almost no forests in the states to-day where one would , be justified in starting a forest fire Scientific forestry has, during the past five years, attracted the attention of the Government as well as the capitalist. We to-day have four schools of forestry. The Government owns thirty-six forest reserves aggregating 46,500,000 acres, situated without exception in the extreme Northwest. Different states are establishing forest reserves where the same is practical. Many of our wealthy citizens have made investments in forest lands Shall we let the lumberman strip these places or shall we keep them for the innocent pleasure of the people? ceeding? If it costs us to-day so many millions a year for river harbor dredging, what will it cost us a year a hundred years hence? Science tells us that we would better spend these millions in protecting our headwaters from deforestation to-day, and the effect of money so spent will not be only lasting, but will earn interest. When we pour this money into our river harbors we pour it into the sea; it helps temporarily and is then gone forever. The people of our mountain sections cannot be made to realize the gravity of a mountain fire. Many of these fires are started purposely, with an idea of producing grazing lands for cattle. In many instances forest fires traveling over the ground rapidly, simply burning the dried leaves, weeds and small underbrush, will bring about a condition in which temporarily better grazing may be had, but this is only the result when the fire runs over the ground the first time. If this land is fired again and with an idea of practicing scientific lumbering. Our Government Forestry Bureau is doing a great and rapidly growing work; the trend of the time is now to save — to protect instead of to destroy. The tree which a few years ago had almost no individual financial value is to-day, if let alone and simply protected, earning a fair rate of interest on the vuiue 01 land upun which the tree stands. Lumber has increased 10, 20 and 30 per cent in value during the past few years; it will increase even more during the next few years to come. A mature tree should always be cut—cut, however, without destroying the young and growing timber around it. Any product of the soil should be protected while growing, cut when ripe; it never adds to the value of itself or its fellows if allowed to fall. The destruction of the mountain forests of this country is of such far-reaching effect that it has ceased to be
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