Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Secretary of Agriculture report on watersheds

items 38 of 41 items
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  • 36 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. The question of the acquirement of timberlands by the Government has been considered with the principal owners of the region. While unwilling to dispose of their virgin timberlands except at very high prices, they are willing to consider the sale of their cut-over lands, the lands lying too high for lumbering, and the mountain tops. A careful study of the situation leads to the conclusion that most of the lands of these classes can be bought at an average price of $6 per acre. Although it may be necessary to make cut-over lands the basis of purchase, so far as possible purchase should be made of uncut lands under an arrangement whereby the owner may cut the timber under the regulations of the Department of Agriculture. This would leave the land in far better condition than the average cut-overland, and the Government could well afford to pay a higher price for land under this management. SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. In the Southern Appalachians the timberlands are owned by large companies to a less extent than in the White Mountains, but even here as much as 50 per cent of many localities is under such ownership. Likewise lumbering is going on less vigorously in the Southern Appalachians than in the White Mountains. This is accounted for by the fact that the Southern Appalachian region is large and many localities of it are very inaccessible. Logs can not be driven downstream as in the North, and railroads are lacking. Consequently, the price of timber all along has been and is now lower than in the North. For instance, spruce which in the White Mountains is worth on an average about $6 per thousand on the stump is in the high southern mountains worth only $2.50 to $3 per thousand. Timberland owners in the Southern Appalachians* are generally inclined to sell their lands to the Government at a reasonable price, regardless of whether the lands contain virgin timber or are cut over. Furthermore, many of them are favorable to the transfer of their lands, themselves retaining the right to cut and remove certain kinds of timber above specified sizes. In considering the practicability of the Government's purchasing land for national forests in the Southern Appalachians conference has been freely had with timberland owners, lumbermen, real estate dealers, and title examiners. Moreover, attention has been paid to the sales which have been made during the past two years and the prices which have been paid. The price of virgin hardwood land varies from $5 to $12 per acre, depending on accessibility and kind and quality of timber. Cut- over lands are worth from $2 to $5 per acre, their value likewise depending upon their location and the condition of the timber growth upon them. In the Southern Appalachians, as in the White Mountains, it will be inadvisable for the Government as a rule to attempt the purchase of virgin forest lands. It should make cut-over lands the basis of purchase, and for such lands it should not exceed an average price of $3.50 per acre. Neither in the White Mountains nor Southern Appalachians is it true that the Government will have to pay higher prices than would
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).