Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • / SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 39 4. The rivers which originate in the Southern Appalachians flow into or along the edges of every State from Ohio to the Gulf and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Along their courses are agricultural, water-power, and navigation interests whose preservation is absolutely essen tial to the well-being of the nation. 5. The regulation of the flow of these rivers can be accomplished only by the conservation of the forests. 6. These are the heaviest and most beautiful hard-wood forests of the continent. In them species from east and west, from north and south, mingle in a growth of unparalleled richness and variety. They contain many species of the first commercial value and furnish important supplies which can not be obtained from any other region. 7. For economic reasons the preservation of these forests is imperative. Their existence in good condition is essential to the prosperity of the lowlands through which their-waters run. Maintained in productive condition they will supply indispensable materials which must fail without them. Their management under practical and conservative forestry will sustain and increase the resources of this region and of the nation at large, will serve as an invaluable object lesson in the advantages and practicability of forest preservation by use, and will soon be self- supporting from the sale of timber. 8. The agricultural resources of the Southern Appalachian region must be protected and preserved. To that end the preservation of the forests is an indispensable condition which will lead not to the reduction but to the increase of the yield of agricultural products. 9. The floods in these mountain-born streams, if this " forest destruction continues, will increase in frequency and violence and in the extent of their damages, both within this region and across the bordering States. The extent of these damages, like those from the washing of the mountain fields and roads, can not be estimated with perfect accuracy, but during the present year alone the total has approximated $10,000,000, a sum sufficient to purchase the entire area recommended for the proposed reserve. But this loss can not be estimated in money value alone. Its continuance means the early destruction of conditions most valuable to the nation and which neither skill nor wealth can restore. 10. The preservation of the forests, of the streams, and of the agricultural interests here described can be success-
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).