Book Description

Excerpt from Report of the Secretary of Agriculture: On the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain Watersheds The agricultural appropriation bill approved March 4, 1907, requires the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate the watersheds of the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains "and to report to Congress the area and natural conditions of said watersheds, the price at which the same can be purchased by the Government, and the advisability of the Government purchasing and setting apart the same as national forest reserves for the purpose of conserving and regulating the water supply and flow of said streams in the interest of agriculture, water power, and navigation." I have endeavored to have completed all investigations necessary to give Congress the information desired. Each one of the several problems involved has been handled by the most competent men whose services could be secured. The Forest Service detailed to the work several of its most experienced experts. The Bureau of Soils, after careful field study, has submitted information on soils and agricultural possibilities of the Southern Appalachian region. The Geological Survey of the Interior Department has made available the results of seven years of investigation of water power and navigation conditions of Southern Appalachian streams. Desirous of securing the most competent authority on every phase of the question, I have gone outside of the Government service to secure from Prof. L. C. Glenn, of Vanderbilt University, of Nashville, Tenn., the results of a three years' study of soil erosion in the Southern Appalachians, and from Mr. Philip W. Ayres, of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, a report on the commercial importance of the White Mountains. Approaching their subjects from different points of view, these men without a single exception have arrived at results which lead irresistibly to these conclusions, namely, that the Southern Appalachians and White Mountains arc of vast commercial importance to the industries of the country; that the good or evil influence of these regions in an unusual degree depends upon the treatment given them, and that both are encountering well-advanced destructive influences, which, unchecked, will bring widespread devastation to the regions themselves and. ruin to many of the industries of this country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.