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Secretary of Agriculture report on watersheds

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  • APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. V) country be in want of hardwood materials which in the past it has had in great variety and abundance. The streams of the Appalachians are of enormous value to the nation for water power and navigation. If the forests are removed from the mountains, this value will be reduced to a fraction, because the soil from the denuded watersheds will so rapidly fill reservoirs and channels that even the resources of the Government itself will be insufficient to keep them clear. That some special means must be taken to protect the resources of these mountains no reasonable man after a full study of the situation is likely to deny. The time to begin is now. Every year that action is deferred the conditions are made worse and the cost of reclamation becomes commensurately greater. The undertaking is so immense that the National Government can not be expected to assume it alone. Important action must be taken by the States directly concerned, and extensive cooperation must be had with individual landowners of the region. It is the duty of the Government to undertake a part of the work and to do it without delay, in order that by example and influence it may lead the way to the more rational treatment of these regions and their resources. In this report it is pointed out how far, in my opinion, it will be necessary for the Government to go and what the cost will be. I have also indicated the action which it seems necessary for the several States to take, and have suggested a basis for securing the cooperation of individual landowners. All three—Government, State, and individual—must, it seems to me, participate in the movement. As a result of the work done under the special appropriation, several reports are being published which show how the commercial importance of these regions depends upon keeping their forests under systematic control. The water resources branch of the Geological Survey, under the direction of Mr. M. O. Leighton, has pre- Sared two reports, one on the Relation of the Southern Appalachian fountains to the Development of Water Power, the other on the Relation of the Southern Appalachian Mountains to Inland Water Navigation. The report of Mr. Philip W. Ayres, already referred to, on the Commercial Importance of the White Mountains, is being published. Mr. William L. Hall, of the Forest Service, has published a report on The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian Forests. All of these papers are respectfully brought to the attention of Congress as containing in large part the data which form the basis of the conclusions and recommendations of this report. IMPORTANCE OF APPALACHIAN FORESTS FOR HARDWOOD SUPPLY. The future hardwood supply hinges on the control of the Appalachian Mountains. This is shown in Circular 116 of the Forest Service, on The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian Forests. To briefly summarize the reasons, the hardwood lumber cut of the country has fallen off over 15 per cent in the last seven years, and this decrease took place at a time when the industries made unprecedented demands upon every kind of structural material. The output of pig iron increased 86 per cent, that of cement 229 per cent,
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).