REPORT: OF THE
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

?) ON

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
AND WHITE MOUNTAIN
WATERSHEDS

COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE, AREA, CONDITION,
ADVISABILITY OF THEIR PURCHASE FOR
* NATIONAL FORESTS, AND PROBABLE COST

| WASHINGTON
a {} ; GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1908

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

“

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
Washington, December 11, 1907.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, in sean with
the provision in the act making appropriations for the United States
Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908,
apepprt on the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain Water-
sheds

Very respectfully, JAMES WILSON,
Secretary.
The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.
3

CONTENTS.

LPNS OSIT AUG RR An a a ee errs
Importance of Appalachian forests for hardwood supply...............-.-----
Importance of Southern Appalachians and White Mountains for water power. -
Appalachian Mountains important to navigation........-.-........s..-2.--45.
Forest determines possibilities of water power and artificial storage.........-..
Conditions in the Southern Appalachian Mountains....................-...-.-
LEDS LINCE Sept EO See eee i Cae I SE oe) Sore ae Ree pees ee cee ea
EE od oe ie ee fae Rr oS
Peres Cea GAPE LORS! LEMMON er tee 285 ee yr Sehy Mears oka wie 225s vides oes sd
Only small area adapted to orchard growing.....-.-............--.-----
Bereta er sWUGUuInGa ite mee Ae LO ae Os beens fe oe

Pata Pesninoueiy Cleatine tases for SS Soe. Sore Ls Po kk Ses oS Se ween
Le UTELCCEr TERS Sun ME ai gc ae ss RES ar ae ae ee ee
melon. tie White Moumtaims... 2.0... 5-22. 4..04..sse520s20-c00200-0
irre eA Were Nes a eee 8) Sees hens nine an be ne cue cae ee
ere ntal POSMOUMIES = 2 Poffo. 2.22. eee Aol a 2 es) RY Clie Popes oe
a Ate) a ee aie SER I ON A oY aoe okies Bbc
REE TE TTS UEC MURCS REE hoa resus Na Shiels tem eo ead! a ailnoe
Sabet ROUT CATO ee wee hes SAGAS es lene ake ee niles ane dae css See see
mPa HEC I POLONGE.. oo oc e ie neo a: Se we bab a acoe se cdecess oead
are and location of lands needing protection...........--.-:-.-)..-.......-
SULLEC Cin ngs 21 Se eee eee ee
Mie UEP ACMI eCSITADIG. S222 hc. coeds see cee es owed epee hee enete coe
iMetvod of aequirement and cost,of lands...:..........-22-c22-2-.-ce5-55--2s
UN bye 2 CSS RAS Sg ae Se OS ee ine ee
SaMinerk: App srachian MOUNPAINS )-.2.-5..<n2s200- +52 e2 2 eese shoe ee sede
Ea IMUPARIBL LIS cs Ae Se Pte 2 Sore ofa tate net Sins eee Ss See eee ed

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Map I. Southern Appalachian Region,
Map II. White Mountain Region.

Report of the Secretary of Agriculture

on the

Southern Appalachian and White Mountain Water-
sheds. |

INTRODUCTION.

The agricultural appropriation bill approved March 4, 1907, re-
quires 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.

Hach 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 sub-
mitted 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 inves-
tigation 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 Appa-
lachians and White Mountains are 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.
ae «

5 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

Therefore, in this report I desire to repeat and strongly emphasize
my recommendation of six years ago, that the National Government
undertake the purchase of a definite portion of these mountain forest
lands, in order that they may, Gageen use as national forests, be pro-
tected and improved. My former recommendation applied only to
the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky, Mountains. I am convinced now
that the Government should extend its purchases to the Southern
Allegheny and the Cumberland Mountains and to the White Moun-
tains also.

A great opportunity presented itself to the Government in the
purchase of these lands seven or eight years ago. The influences
which are destroying the mountains were not then so far advanced.
Virgin hardwood timber lands existed in large areas and could have
been bought at from $1 to $5 per.acre. Within the past eight years
we have crossed the threshold of a hardwood timber famine, and
in consequence the prices of such virgin hardwood lands as remain
have advanced from 300 to 500 per cent.

It will be the wisest course under present conditions for the Goy-
ernment to purchase cut-over rather than virgin lands. Even cut-
over lands with no prospect of a timber crop inside of ten or twenty
years will cost as much now as virgin lands ready for the saw would
have cost eight years ago. Barren and eroded lands, of which
there is a greater area now, will cost no more to-day than in the past.
But considering the expense of planting timber on them and the
time. before returns can be secured they become the most costly
class of lands that can be purchased.

That the two regions under consideration are advancing toward a
condition of barrenness and sterility is the conclusion of every man
who has had a part in this investigation. I do not refer to the loss
merely of commercial timber. I mean absolute barrenness and
sterility—without timber, without undergrowth, without soil. In
1896 Prof. N.S. Shaler, of Harvard University, said:

South of Pennsylvania there is, according to my reckoning based on observations
in every State in that upland country, an aggregate area of not less than 3,000 square
miles where the soil has been destroyed by the complete removal of the woods and
the consequent passage of the earthy matter to the lowlands and to the sea. At the
rate at which this process is now going on the loss in arable and forestable land may
fairly be reckoned at not less than 100 square miles per annum. In other words, we
are each year losing to the uses of man, through unnecessary destruction, a productive
capacity which may be estimated as sufficient to sustain a population of a thousand

people. .

This rate has not only been kept up; it has been greatly accelerated.
Faster than was considered possible eleven years ago these regions,
through injudicious cutting, fires, clearing, and general misappro-
priation, are moving toward a forestless, soilless condition.

If we wait till forest and soil are gone before beginning a sound
policy of handling these mountains, we shall invite the bitter experi-
ence of France, who at infinite pains and an expenditure of $40,000,-
000 is endeavoring to restore both soil and forest to her mountains
after a course of destruction such as ours at present.

How the destruction of the Appalachian forests, north and south,
means far-reaching damage to the country is pointed out in this
report. The Appalachians must be almost the sole dependence for
the nation’s future hardwood supply. If this supply fails, the
hardwood-using industries of the country must fail, and the entire

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. g

country be in want of hardwood materials which in the past it has
had in great variety and abundance. The streams of the Appala-
chians 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
2 aa 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 todeny. The time to beginis 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. Itis 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 coopera-
tion 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 Geo-
logical Survey, under the direction of Mr. M. O. Leighton, has pre-
pared two reports, one on the Relation of the Southern Appalachian.
Mountains 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 pub-
lished a report on The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian
Forests. All of these papers are respectfully brought to the atten-
tion 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 Appa-
lachian Mountains. This is shown in Circular 116 of the Forest.
Service, on The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian For-
ests. 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 un-
precedented demands upon every kind of structural material. The
output of pig iron increased 86 per cent, that of cement 229 per cent,

24072—08——2

10 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

and that of softwood lumber nearly 16 per cent. During the same
yeriod the wholesale prices of all classes of hardwood lumber advanced
“ag 25 to 65 per cent. Almost every kind of hardwood has been put
on the market, and hardwood is now being cut in every State and in
almost every locality where it is found. AU possible substitutes are
being put into requisition. The demand is stronger than ever, but
the supply is falling off. A notable shrinkage has occurred in some
of the most popular woods, as shown by the following table:

Taste 1.—The cut of hardwood lumber, by kinds, 1899 and 1906.

| Increase (-+-)
| or

Wood. 1899, 1906.

| decrease(—).

Thousand feet.| Thousand feet.| Per cent.
Oak. cd Sese nk oe eet Specie ae oe ne ee ope aes 4, 438, 027 2, 820, 393 | — 36.5
Maple 5...s.sucemevc caus bexpds tneteucantin at teen aes Seats 633, 466 882, 878 + 39.4
POPIAl tacees cetera eee ee eee Bad a tl aS ap Ae Pl aps 1, 115, 242 693, 076 — 37.9
Red Pi. Bes. daa Sele ees Sheet Sea een 285, 417 453, 678 + 59.0
Chestnuiss 2 oe ok oe eee ae ee See eee See 206, 688 407, 379 + 97.1
Basewoodies fhe ct 4 ence Ok Beep oe ae ie on ee 308, 069 376, 838 +- 22.
dB bye 0 Wee Ren Soke en leet ns eB nk ey hehe RE pee D2 132, 601 370, 432 +179.4
Cottonwood: We. 34253: 5 eee eee eee 415, 124 263, 996 — 36.4
Beech S82. 3 aie Coe. Le Ge eee. Se ee ae (2) 275, 661 || 25052 ee
lim. Ate t os. 34 A SEES AL Sone a ee 456, 731 224, 795 — 50.8
Arsh Sic nce ect e ite ae eR = ee oe ee Boe 269, 120 214, 460 — 20.3
Bickorytle. ist 5 oss... k ee See eee Ae eet Cee 96, 636 148, 212 + 53.4
RUBGIOS ee sesoceeat tase Sema ees Sree, «ee oe (2) AT, 882:{|..5 2 2.5 eee
WrintGse 4.25 eee tee ee ee eee ee ee 38, 681 48, 174 | + 24.5
BYGRMOTAs oobi. - Sacer Sein ee eee ae cee oy 6 1; nee Sone emi e Poel [Sen
All othoricyss Seep she eset Oo See ee ee 208, 504 87,637 | — 58.0
Poel SAEs A ae eee | 8, 634, 021 | 7, 315, 491 2.9523

a Not separately reported.

Oak, which in 1899 furnished more than half the entire output of
hardwood lumber, has fallen off 36.5 per cent. Yellow poplar, which
in 1899 ranked second among the hardwoods of the country, fell off
37.9. Elm, the great standard in slack cooperage, went down 50.8
per cent. Cottonwood and ash, used largely in many industries,
ost, respectively, 36.4 and 20.3 per cent. Of the woods which show
increases, hickory and walnut are cut scatteringly over a very large
territory. The increases shown are probably in large part, if not
entirely, due to more complete figures in 1906 than in 1899. The
other woods which show increases are those which up to a few years
ago were considered so inferior that they had no market value.
Only within the past seven years have maple, red gum, birch, beech
and tupelo begun to replace the better woods, such as oak, poplar,
elm, and ash. When the inferior substitutes are gone there will be
nothing with which to replace them.

While we know the hardwood supply is rapidly running down, it
is unfortunate that we can not tell how long the supply will last.
The hardwood which annually goes into the manufacture of lumber is
approximately 74 billion feet. Other uses, such as railroad ties, poles,
piles, fence posts, fuel, and the vast amount of waste bring the figure
to at least 25 billion feet. By the largest estimate our supply of stand-
ing hardwoods does not exceed 400 billion feet. This means a six-
teen years’ supply.

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 11

How intensely the whole country would feel the loss of a great
resource like hardwood timber was merely indicated by the injurious
effects of the anthracite coal strike a few years ago. Many of our

reat industries, such as furniture, vehicle, and cooperage manu-
acture, depend absolutely upon hardwood. These industries will
fail with the hardwood supply. Not only will they fail, the whole
country will suffer for want of their products. Our present national
forests furnish no hardwood timber because hardwoods grow only in
the East.

There have been in the United States four great hardwood centers—
the Ohio Valley, the Lake States, the lower Mississippi Valley, and
the Appalachian States. The Ohio Valley in the past has been the
main center of production. Even as late as 1899, the States of Ohio,
Illinois, and Indiana produced 25 per cent of the hardwood. In
1906, they produced only 14 per cent; both the States of Ohio and
Indiana fell off over 50 per cent. They have reached a sudden end
as ereat hardwood producers. Their many hardwood-using estab-
lishments which are now pressed for supplies will largely exhaust
their remaining remnants within a few years. The lands from which
the timber was cut have been cleared and turned into farming, for
which in large part they are well adapted.

The three Lake States furnished less hardwood lumber in 1906 than
they did in 1899. Unquestionably their maximum production has
been reached, and their decline is likely to be almost as rapid as that
of Ohio and Indiana, because of the nearness of many wood-using
industries which will make heavy demands upon their suppliés. The
hardwood lands of the Lake States are for the most part agricultural
lands, and they are rapidly being cleared for the production of grain,
erasses, and potatoes.

The same is true of the lower Mississippi Valley. The hardwoods
occupy the richest agricultural land which, almost as fast as the
timber is cut, is being turned into farms. Present indications are
that the swamp land, notable for the production. of hardwoods, will
within a few years be drained and cleared for agriculture.

This leaves but one other hardwood region—the Appalachian
Mountains. The Appalachians differ fundamentally from the other
regions because they are not of agricultural value; their main useful-
ness is for timber production. In 1906 they produced 48 per cent
of the hardwoods of the country. It is clear that they must be
counted upon for even a much larger proportion in the future.
Although they bear hemlock, pine, and spruce in quantity, it is in
the production of hardwoods that the Appalachians have their chief
value. It is to them that the hardwood-using industries must look
for future supplies, and even with the Appalachians the country has
only a sixteen years’ supply now available for the ax.

The Southern Appalachian region contains a timbered area of over
58 million acres. Including the mountains of Pennsylvania, New
York, and New England, it is safe to estimate the Appalachian area
as covering 75 million acres primarily adapted to hardwood timber.
Only a small part of this—12 to 15 per cent—is covered by virgin
erowth. The remainder has been cut over, and some of it has been
cleared.

Throughout the Appalachian region the forest has suffered incal-
culable damage by fire, which over most of the region still burns

12 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

without hindrance. Every year millions of young trees, the hope
of the future crop, are killed and the humus, the great storehouse of
fertility and moisture, is consumed over thousands of acres. Through
mismanagement a great part of the young timber has been destroyed.
Much that remains is damaged by fire, insects, or fungi. Over the
whole area the average growth is very little, probably not more than
10 cubic feet per acre annually.

The inevitable conclusion is that there are lean years close ahead
in the use of hardwood timber. There is sure to be a gap between
the supply which exists and the supply which will have to be pro-
vided. How large that gap will be depends upon how soon and how
effectively we begin to make provision for the future supply. The
present indications are that in spite of the best we can do there will
be a shortage of hardwoods running through at least fifteen years.
How acute that shortage may become and how serious a check it
will put upon the industries concerned can not now be foretold. That
it will strike at the very foundation of some of the country’s most
important industries is unquestionable. This much is true beyond
doubt, that the hardwood timber famine is upon us and we have
made no provision against it.

Studies of the forest conditions in the Southern Appalachians show
that these lands, where they have been under protection for some
time, are capable of producing an average of 50 cubic feet of wood
per acre annually. Even taking the production at 40 cubic feet, this
means for the area of 75 million acres a possible annual production of
about 3 billion cubic feet, which is about equal to the present con-~
sumption of hardwood timber for all purposes. Since the 4 Bpaac
chians at present supply only 48 per cent of our hardwood, and since
other regions will continue to furnish some, it is likely that the pro-
portion from the Appalachians will never exceed 75 percent. This
allows a margin of safety of 25 per cent if we assume that there will
be no increase over the present rate of consumption. If the Appa-
lachian forests are taken soon enough and rightly handled they will
eventually produce continuously three-fourths of the hardwood sup-
ply of the country, and do it without exhausting the forests. In fact,
it can be done in such a way as to improve the forest.

Our experience will doubtless be the same in this respect as that of
Germany. In Saxony the cut, which represents only the growth,
increased 55 per cent during the period from 1820 to 1904, bringin
the annual yield to 93 cubic feet per acre. Prussia shows a stil
more pronounced increase. In 1830 the cut was only 20 cubic feet
per acre, and in 1865 had increased to only 24 cubic feet. But in
1890, owing to proper management, it had risen to 52, and in 1904 to
65 cubic feet. These results came largely from nonagricultural lands,
sandy plains, swamps, and rough mountain slopes, and from forests
which had been mismanaged, much the same as ours. Under right
management an equal increase may be expected from Appalachian
forests. To this increase of yield we must look to meet the increase
which is certain to come in demand.

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 13

IMPORTANCE OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS AND WHITE
MOUNTAINS FOR WATER POWER.

The amount of water power in the Southern Appalachians fre-
quently has been guessed at. The Geological Survey has been
measuring the streams for seven years, and its report on the Rela-
tion of the Southern Appalachian Mountains to the Development of
Water Power presents facts concerning the remarkable asset the
nation has in the water resources of this region. Based on the low-
est two weeks of the year an average for seven years shows that the
streams afford 2,700,000 horsepower. This much power would be
available the year round. In common practice it is found profit-
able to develop a water power to the minimum of the four high-
water months of the year, depending upon steam power during low-
water season to make up the deficiency. In order to be conserva-
tive in this estimate the time limit has been made six months. No
streams or portions of streams were considered that did not flow out
of the Southern Appalachians. No streams with less than 500 horse-
power were considered. In all calculations only 90 per cent of the
observed fall and 80 per cent of the energy of the Falisas water is
used. Moreover, three important streams—the Big Sandy, the
Cumberland, and the Kentucky—are not included. With these
allowances and omissions the minimum power for the year and for
the six high-water months is as follows:

TaBLE 2.— Minimum horsepower of Southern Appalachian streams.

Horsepower.
im Minimum
Siteam. Minimum for six
| for the year. | high-water
| months.
LP ONTHTNOL. 2.0.5 J: Ss ea E Ee aoe eS SES 6 <n ee at ee ee } 131, 800 349, 556
IMMER. 5 soaceles nets Oe SS ae 58S ee ee eee ee ee eae | 155, 000 236, 474
DAD PLTUSD. Ak bois Sg ee eee Oe OE es 2. oS Seo ce ee 131, 000 215, 709
ee ee een tot «nee oe mi = ale Pe ayaal- s sjyenise alates ce teins 167, 800 256, 945
SMCENGD) . oost cco} eee Be Ie OREO COA © 8. Go Ss ae Se ee 319, 590 472, 000
PSE Ge Se th Re ASS Og OA Se BRE CS ee ene ee tee eee Roe cent 209, COO 314, 600
ISAT PLOT) OE eS ED SE Cp Sk st er a ne a Be Pie SS 145, 000 228, 800
COGS hc 5 he oc Be eee Se sees! eoceeeees 104, 580 |} 177, 880
PNSSNTMRTT Sta ELC on tee een te ins eat nce hein oe oy ata nc’ SS 5 Be ee eee a 58, 900 235, 715
VSP SiTG) 1007 002 VS Ree ee eR ae as le ares 8 ee ee eee 335, 000 853, 420
St ESr eRe eee nye. 52 See ey oe Rss oem SS emiels ed cated ok ene Sonne ee | 973, 600 1, 589, 474
Tigi. 32) Ag meno epee Ske Bett cota eee te ae ee | 2,740,700 | 4,929, 573

The above table shows the power available under present condi-
tions. Development of the storage facilities of the various streams
would increase the minimum from three to thirty times, depending
upon the stream.

It is estimated by the Geological Survey that at least 50 per cent of
the indicated minimum horsepower, and probably much more, is
available for economic development. On this basis the rental of
1,350,000 horsepower at $20 per annum is worth $27,000,000 per year.
If we take in the same way 50 per cent of the pewer which is present
for half the year we increase this sum by $11,000,000, bringing the
total to $38,000,000.

14 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

Until a few years ago scarcely any of this power was utilized.

Since 1900, with an increase in population of about 2,400,600, or something more than
10 per cent, the South has increased the value of its farm products by $728,000,000,
or 57 per cent, and the value of its manufactures $761,000,000, or 52 per cent. It has
added 3,493,000 spindles to its cotton-mill outfit, an increase of 55 per cent, and its
mills used in 1906 about 2,375,000 bales of American cotton, or 48 per cent more than
in 1900. In the six years the South’s annual pig-iron production has increased by
896,000 tons, or 34 per cent; its coal production by 34,202,000 tons, or 69 per cent; the
value of exports at its ports $177,000,000, or 38 per cent. In that time its railroad
mileage has increased by 11,441 miles, or nearly 22 per cent, and the assessed value of
property by $2,490,000,000, or nearly 48 per cent. [Manufacturer’s Record.]

This showing is not made by the South alone. It represents the
results of capital from all parts of the country applied to the devel-
opment of the resources of the South. It is therefore national, not
local, development.

Coincidental with this industrial advance has come about a strong
demand for electricity generated by water power. Electric devel-
opment plants have sprung up on nearly all streams, and in great
numbers on those flowing through the Piedmont Plateau. While
relatively little of the nearly 5,000,000 horsepower is as yet utilized,
its utilization is increasing at a marvelous rate.

Ready power to the value of $38,000,000 will give the country
tremendous advantage, not alone in manufacturing, but in transpor-
tation, in lighting, and in every kind of development. Water power
is especially valuable to those sections which have no deposits of coal,
and its advantages will steadily enhance in the future as the supply
of coal grows scarcer and the price correspondingly higher.

On the great watersheds forming the White Mountain region the
four most important streams of New England have their rise. Upon
them are located the great cotton, woolen, and paper mills of New
England. They abound in fine water power, only a part of which is
now utilized. It has been estimated that the capital invested in the
manufacturing enterprises which utilize the power of these streams
amounts to $250,000,000. Important and flourishing cities have
grown up in consequence of these industries. Bellows Falls, in Ver-
mont; Manchester and Berlin, in New Hampshire; Holyoke, Lowell,
and Lawrence, in Massachusetts; and Biddeford, Brunswick, and
Lewiston, in Maine, are representatives of such cities, ranging in popu-
lation from 10,000 to 150,000.

The Connecticut River, the largest of New England streams, rises
in the Connecticut Lakes of northern New Hampshire. It forms the
boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire for 180 miles and
flows across Massachusetts and Connecticut for 120 miles. Its drain-
age basin includes 10,924 square miles, of which nearly one-fourth lies
in New Hampshire and one-tenth in the White Mountains. The
White Mountains portion of its watershed averages nearly 4,000 feet
in elevation, including portions of the great Presidential and Fran-
conia ranges. Their slopes are steep and rocky, without large lakes
or swamps, and with ae the forest to retard the run-off. Water
power in the upper stream is developed chiefly at Fifteen Mile Falls
and MeIndoe Falls on the main river and at Littleton and Lisbon on
the Ammonoosuc. Below McIndoe Falls are long reaches of smooth
water broken at Bellows Falls, Turners Falls, Holyoke, Windsor
Locks, and three other points by falls having an average aggregate

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 15

during ten months of the year of 120,000 horsepower. Less than half
is utilized.

In very low water the power is reduced nearly one-half, so that
but a small margin remains over the amount required for daily use.
At Holyoke, Mass., the margin is frequently so small as to require
the most careful use of water to make the supply meet the needs.
The census of 1880 reported for the Connecticut and all of its tribu-
taries 2,298 mills using 118,026 horsepower developed from the
streams. It is estimated that these figures have since been increased
by about 20 per cent, making the present total over 140,000 horse-
power.

The Merrimac River is undoubtedly the most notable water-power
stream for its length in the United States. Between Franklin and
Newburyport, a distance of 110 miles, it has a fall of 269 feet, of
which 185 feet is developed, representing approximately 50,000 net
horsepower. Of the remaining 84 feet, it is believed that less than
half can be utilized. Probably the total development in the main
stream will not exceed 60,000 horsepower. Its great water powers
are at Manchester, N. H., and ional and Lawrence, Mass. On the
tributaries of the Merrimac valuable powers also exist. Those at
Franklin on the Winnepesaukee are equal in value to some on the
main stream. The Merrimac is formed by the Pemigewasset and
Winnepesaukee rivers. The latter has its source in the lake of the
same name, while the former rises in the Franconia Notch of the White
Mountains and drains a large area of high, mountainous country.
Since the Pemigewasset has no lakes or swamps to conserve its
peers, it depends upon the forest cover alone for its regularity of

ow.

The Saco River rises in Crawford Notch, in the heart of the White
Mountains, and drains a larger proportion of the principal ranges
than any other stream. None of its tributary streams from the
mountains have lakes to restrain their waters, though, like the Mer-
rimac at its lower levels, it is the outlet of important lakes. Toward
its headwaters the Saco is variable in its flow and has no important
water powers, but on its lower reaches in Maine its flow is broken at
six places by falls, affording water power of a high value. At Saco
and Biddeford, at Union and Salmon Falls, and at Bar Mills fine
water power exists, a large part of which is utilized. At Hiram, 45
miles ae the sea, is Sa the most extensive power on the river.
The Saco, while its possibilities are great, is more dependent upon
the forest cover for the evenness of its flow than any other river hav-
ing its source in the White Mountains. .

The Androscoggin River has a drainage basin with a higher gen-
eral elevation and a larger lake system than any other New England
stream. It is formed by the union of Magalloway River and the
outlet of Umbagog Lake, at Errol, N. H. At its headwaters is the
magnificent system of Rangeley Lakes, the outlet of which is con-
trolled by dams. The flow of the upper river is therefore very
uniform.

Farther down its course the Androscoggin receives the drainage of
the northern part of the principal ranges of the White Mountains
through Peabody and Moose rivers. On this part of its drainage
there are no lakes of importance. The water powers of the Andros-

16 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

coggin are centered at Berlin, N. H., and Rumford Falls, Livermore
Falls, Lewiston, and Brunswick, Me. In the 167 miles between tide
water and Umbagog Lake there is a fall of 1,235 feet, of which 610
feet is used, corresponding to about 120,000 net horsepower. Of the
remaining 625 feet, possibly two-thirds can be utilized, correspond-
ing to 60,000 net horsepower, and bringing the total to about 180,000
horsepower, or approximately three times that of the Merrimac
without its tributaries.

The streams of the White Mountains, therefore, furnish power for
creat industries, and are the basis of development for many prosper-
ous cities in all the New England States but one. These streams are
all influenced vitally in flow by the forest which covers the slopes of
the White Mountains.

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS IMPORTANT TO NAVIGATION.

Timber supply and water power are not the only factors which
make the Appalachian Mountains commercially important. -AIl the
water gathered by the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains
flows to the sea through navigable rivers. With greater elevation
than other parts of the watersheds the mountains receive much
more rainfall, and with their cooler climate the evaporation is less;
hence there is more water to be discharged. Because of the pre-
cipitous slopes of the mountains the run-off is far more rapid than in
other sections. To this must be added the fact that in the Southern
Appalachians there are no natural lakes to gather the flood waters
and equalize the flow of streams. There are thus two powerful
influences contributing to an extremely heavy discharge from these
mountains, and two more contributing to an extremely rapid run-off.
Combined, these tend to produce great variability in the flow of all
streams which have a large part of their watersheds in the mountains.

A large regular discharge coming from springs is desirable, a variable
surface run-off is bad from every point of view, and so far as possible
should be remedied. The variability of the present flow of Southern
Appalachian streams is so great that though the average volume
would make the streams constantly navigable, they are at extreme
flood during a few weeks of the year and at extreme low water during
a much longer period. Their low-water stage causes interference
and loss to business through the cessation of navigation; their high-
water stage often entails damage and loss from floods.

There is but one natural factor which tends to equalize the flow of
Southern Appalachian streams—the forest. In one continuous man-
tle, covering ridges, slopes, and coves, it has for untold ages been
nature’s sole reliance for the proper distribution of rainfall. If storm
and deluge came, the downpour fell upon a foot-deep layer of humus,
which readily received many times its own weight of water before it
allowed any to escape. When filled, it passed on the excess to a soil
made porous by myriads of penetrating roots and countless tons of
vegetable mold. If drought came, it found the humus and soil filled
as a reservoir with water for the steady supply of springs and streams
through weeks or months of rainless weather.

The original forest, then, with its characteristic conditions of shade,
undergrowth, humus, and soil, was an effectual distributer of moisture.

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 17

It was as efficient as would have been a system of lakes. It had
power to hold back the water on a steep mountain side almost as
though the ground were level. Thus, in a great measure, it equalized
all influences which contributed to the variability of the run-off.

This balance of conditions began to be disturbed when the forest
was cleared from great areas of foothill land. It has become strongly
disarranged since the clearing has extended far up the mountains and
since the forest has been opened by cutting and the humus consumed
by fire over almost the entire area.

In view of the fact that over large areas ot the upper watersheds
of the Southern Appalachian streams the forest can never be restored,
the possibilities of artificial storage become important. In the report
of the Geological Survey on Relation of Southern Appalachian Moun-
tains to Inland Water Navigation data are presented for each navi-
gable stream to show the available reservoir sites, the amount of
water which can be stored, and the effect of such stored water on
the minimum river stage for specified periods. The data for some
streams show that remarkable results can be accomplished. As a
striking example one may consider the Savannah, which during the
greater part of the year is navigable for steamboats drawing from 4
to 5 feet of water, but during low-water seasons there are various
shoals in the upper part of the river with a depth of not over 3 feet.
In pursuance of the plan of improvement outlined by the Chief of
Engineers, United States Army, the United States had expended in
the improvement of this river up to June 30, 1905, the sum of
$517,643, of which $58,935 was expended above Augusta. The esti-
mate of cost to complete the project is $645,045. Expenditures on
the upper portion of the river have now been suspended on the
eround that the permanent improvement of this portion would
involve an expenditure out of proportion to the prospective com-
mercial benefits.

Considering this condition, it is of interest to note what can be
done by means of a storage system on this river. Topographic sur-
veys have located 14 reservoir sites, which, if developed, would have
a capacity equal to the annual run-off of 1,670 square miles of drain-
age area, or 23 percent of the drainage area above Augusta. With
these reservoirs developed and filled, the amount of water which
could be stored would be sufficient to maintain an added depth of 9
feet at Augusta for a period of 118 days, or practically four months.
Even with the reservoirs half full at the beginning of the low-water
season there would still be water enough to add 5 feet to the depth of
the river for 130 days. The Savannah, already a river of great com-
mercial importance, would have its commerce increased many fold if
only a good navigable depth could be maintained at all seasons.

It is not pertinent here to consider whether at a future time it may
be desirable to plan a general system of such reservoirs. It is impor-
tant to point out that every reservoir developed for water power in
the mountains or foothills helps conditions in the navigable courses
of the streams. Owing to the great water-power development which
is taking place, this aid is likely to be of considerable value in the
future. When in addition to seeking improved conditions of naviga-
tion it is of equal or greater importance to control the floods, as in
the Monongahela River, such work may become entirely feasible.

24072—08——3

18 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

The Weather Bureau carefully investigated the damage along the
Ohio River from the floods of January and March, 1907, and found
that the property loss, not including damage to soil and river channel,
amounted to $9,900,000, most of which was sustained by the city of
Pittsburg. The report of the Geological Survey shows that the flow
of 1,950 square miles, or 35 per cent of the drainage area of the Monon-
gahela, can be stored for a full year, and that by such storage the
low-water stage in the Monongahela can be increased by 6 feet
throughout the longest dry-season period ever known in the history
of the river. The measurements pe oe that by the storage of this
water in the Monongahela an increase of stage of 3 feet can be effected
in the Ohio River at Wheeling for a period considerably longer than
four months. This means a distinct improvement for both naviga-
tion and flood conditions. With 35 per cent of the Monongahela
water subject to storage, the flood damage at Pittsburg and Wheeling
would be almost eliminated. With the minimum stage of the Ohio
at Wheeling increased by 3 feet, the coveted 9-foot stage between
Pittsburg and Cincinnati would all but be secured.

The streams which drain the White Mountain region are all navi-
gable in their lower courses. The Connecticut River is the most
important for its commerce. Commerce in considerable volume is
carried on from the mouth to Hartford, 30 miles, and small boats by
way of the Windsor Locks may ascend as far as Holycke, Mass. The
Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Saco in their upper courses are used to
a large extent for the driving of logs. The lower Kennebec supports
an extensive ice traffic.

FOREST DETERMINES POSSIBILITIES OF WATER POWER AND
ARTIFICIAL STORAGE.

The forest bears a vital relation to successful utilization of water
power and effectual artificial storage. No matter what its purpose
or design, any reservoir system developed in the Southern Appa-
lachians is foredoomed to failure unless the watersheds which feed it
are kept under forest. The present torrential discharge of the
streams is due to the extent to which the forest has been cut away or
damaged. The more this sole equalizing factor is lessened, the more
extreme will be the floods on the one hand and low-water stages on
the other. A mountain watershed denuded of its forest, with its
suriace hardened and baked by exposure, will discharge its fallen rain
into the streams so quickly that overwhelming floods will descend in
wet seasons. In discharging in this torrential way the water carries
along great portions of the land itself. Deep gullies are washed in
the fields, and the soil, sand, gravel, and stone are carried down the
streams to points where the current slackens. The stone and gravel
are likely to be dropped in the upper channel of the stream, to be
rolled along by subsequent floods, but the sand and silt are carried
down to the still water of the first reservoir, where they are depos-
ited, It is this silting up that makes uncertain any reservoir system
outside the limits of a forested watershed.

Since the extensive removal of the forest on the upper watersheds
there has been a vast accumulation of silt, sand, and gravel in the
upper stream courses. Examples of reservoirs completely filled are
already to be seen on almost every stream. Removal of the silt is

————————————_—™

ER

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. bE)

usually impracticable. If sluiced out of the highest reservoir, it
athers in the next below, and so on through whatever system may
ave been developed. If, perchance, it should pass the last reservoir,
the silt is-then free for deposit in the navigable stretches of the stream.

Regardless of whether there are reservoirs, the ultimate deposit of
the detritus is in the navigable sections, whence its removal can be
accomplished only by a steam dredge at the expense of the Govern-
ment.

In the degree that the forests are damaged on the high watersheds,
then, inevitable damage results to water power and navigation
through increased extremes of high and low water and through vast
deposits of gravel, sand, and silt in the stream channels and in any
rersevoir which may have been constructed. :

CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

The Southern Appalachian Mountains contain approximately
9,900,000 acres, having an elevation above 2,500 feet.

The Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains consist of an elevated
plateau walled in on its western margin by a higher mountain range
and with numerous short ranges projecting above its general surface.
In one of these, the Black Mountains, Mount Mitchell rises to 6,711
feet, the highest altitude east of the Rocky Mountains. The eastern
edge of the plateau is formed partly by peaks rising above the general
surface and partly by an abrupt descent that forms an escarpment
overlooking the Piedmont Plateau. Over 40 peaks, including approx-
imately 6,400 acres, have an altitude of over 6,000 feet, and 54,000
acres are above 5,000 feet. The ridges of these mountains are
rounded, the slopes precipitous, and the valleys deep cut and narrow.
In Virginia the Blue Ridge narrows to a single range of a few miles
width, but retains its characteristic topography. It crosses the
Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, extends through the State ot
Maryland, and merges into the Allegheny Mountains in southern
Pennsylvania.

The Allegheny Mountains extend southward from Pennsylvania
and torm the mountainous part of West Virginia and that portion of
Virginia lying near the West Virginia boundary. The highest peak
of the Alleghenies is Spruce Knob, in Pendleton County, W. Va., 4,860
feet.

The Cumberland Mountains are simply the extension of the
Alleghenies and are considered to begin at the northeast boundary of
Kentucky. From this line they extend southwest through Ken-
tucky, extreme western Virginia, Tennessee, and into northern
Alabama. The Cumberlands are of less elevation than the Alle-
ghenies. Their highest peak is Big Black Mountain, in Harlan County,
Ky., which has a height of 4,100 feet.

EROSION.

The greater part of the Southern Appalachian region is underlain
by rocks that weather into soils which are easily eroded when exposed
on deforested slopes. Erosion varies in character on account of the
different kinds of soil. In some places the entire surface rapidly
wears away, cach freshet removing a thin layer, so that the fertile
soil is soon exhausted. The field is at last worn out and abandoned.

20 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

This kind of erosion occurs on close-grained, compact clay soils, the
particles of which cling together firmly and resist the downward
cutting of small currents of water.

Another type of erosion results in parallel gullies extending straight
up and down the slopes. As these gullies grow deeper they widen,
the smaller ones are obliterated by the larger until they become. of
huge size, their bottoms sharp, their sides steep, and their edges
irregular and jagged. Such erosion results from clay soils of homo-
geneous texture and somewhat softer and more loamy than the type
mentioned above. It is a very common type, and the process once
started can be stopped only with great difficulty. It nearly always
results in the early abandonment of the field on which it begins.

Of all types of erosion, that of gullying, in which rapid down-cutting
is accompanied by undercutting and caving, is the most rapid in its
progress and the most difficult to check, as well as the most destructive
in its effects. This type occurs in soils of relatively soft micaceous
subsoil. The surface may be a fairly compact clay that offers mod-
erate resistance to water, but once broken a gully results in the soft
subsoil. It rapidly deepens, the micaceous material on the sides
is easily undermined and slips in, leaving vertical or overhanging
walls. Into such gullies many square yards of soil may cave during
a single heavy rain, and as the decomposed micaceous material is
usually scores of feet in thickness such gullies frequently become
chasms of great depth and width. This kind of erosion when started
on cleared Jand may advance into a forested area and undermine
even the largest trees. The rocks which produce soil subject to this
kind of erosion are found over a large part of the Southern Appa-
lachian region, and especially in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Still another type of erosion is that started by small landslides,
which occur on steep slopes when the soil is saturated during periods of
prolonged rainfall. Such landslides are often started by the tramp-
ling of cattle over the steep slopes during wet weather. One animal
in climbing up or down a slope may start a number of such slides,
each of which usually grows in width and length and soon makes a
great bare scar in the field.

The soils subject to’ serious erosion are very extensive in the
Southern Appalachian region. Where on such soils nature has
placed a forest that brings about a balance between rainfall and
run-off, the danger in widespread clearing is obvious. The loss
resulting from erosion means not only the loss of the soil from the
fields; it means also the loss which has already been described in the
failure of water power and navigation.

MINING.

While in the Blue Ridge and Great Smokies no valuable coal depos-
its are known to exist, these mountains have a great variety of min-
eral resources. Many of them have never been developed, while
others have become the basis of important mining operations. Large
investments have been made in the mining of copper, marble, mica,
corundum, tale, asbestos, slate, kaolin, and other minerals, and the
mineral products are said to amount to several million dollars
annually.

Such mining as is carried on does not require large quantities of

timber, since but a small part of it is underground mining, and some

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 21

of that which is underground is carried on in the ancient crystalline
rocks, which do not require timbering. The influence of such mining
upon the forests is not very important except in a few instances
where great damage is done. The most pronounced example of
injury by mining is at Ducktown, Tenn., where sulphur fumes from
the roasting and smelting of copper ores have killed all vegetation
for a number of miles around. The perfectly bare surface has eroded
with wonderful rapidity. It is a striking illustration of the com-
pleteness of destruction that may result from erosion in this region
when the protecting forest cover 1s once removed.

In the Alleghenies and Cumberlands the mining of coal overshad-
ows all other mining operations. This is one of the richest coal fields
of the United States. The great mines which have been developed
require annually millions of feet of timber, and will continue to require
great quantities so long as the coal supply lasts.
~ Coal mining does not necessarily conflict with the proper use of the
forest. It requires the use of usually less than 10 per cent of the
surface, and this generally in the valleys. All the rest can be kept
in timber. Moreover, the ownership and control of the surface do not
necessarily go with the control of the coal rights. In many cases the
companies which work the mines control only enough of the surface
to enable them to operate the collieries.

AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES.

In the northern part of Virginia the Blue Ridge is composed of
sandstone which gives rise fo the DeKalb stony loam, for the most
part a poor, thin, stony soil. The summits are rough, rocky, and
sharp-crested, while the slopes are steep and rocky. Probably 95
per cent of this type is uncultivated, and is valuable only for the
timber it supports. The Blue Ridge, with its outlier, Short Mountain,
is well defined, and soils suited to agriculture come to its base. Im-
mediately across the Potomac, in western Maryland, similar con-
ditions prevail. Farther south, in Virginia, the Blue Ridge soils are
much more productive, and it is only the steep upper portions that
are unsuited to farming. These higher areas are so steep, rough,
and rugged that they are adapted only to forestry.

In western North Carolina, east of the Blue Ridge, lies a succession
of foothills with moderately precipitous slopes and with small valleys
between.

To the eastward lies the great agricultural Piedmont Plateau,
from which little valleys follow back through the foothill region and
into the mountains. At first these valleys are adapted to general
farming, but as the region becomes more rugged they are pinched
out and the soil is unsuited to cultivation.

ONLY SMALL AREA ADAPTED TO ORCHARD GROWING.

Where the Blue Ridge supersedes the foothills, many orchards
have been planted on the better soils, and it is these in part which
have given to western North Carolina the reputation of producing
good fruit—a reputation justly deserved and capable of being much
extended.

22 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

The success of apple orchards on soils and locations as already
described, however, caused plantings to be made at greater and
greater elevations, on very steep lands. As a result, orchards in
such places are much less profitable than twenty years ago, simply
from the increase in cost of labor, and eventually this item will, and
in fact does already, make it impossible to compete in the production
of apples with other areas where the decrease in the amount of labor
necessary will more than offset the additional cost of land more
economically worked. But even more striking is the problem of
insect and fungus attacks. It is not economically feasible to plant
orchards in the eastern United States where the land is so steep that
the orchards can not be effectively sprayed at a reasonable expense,
and the fact that this has been done in some cases in the past argues
nothing for its probable success in the future.

Again, on some of these steep lands orchards have been planted
at so great an elevation that the yield of fruit has been much lessened,
the bloom having been destroyed or the trees winter-killed more
often than at a more moderate elevation. The climate, then, goes
hand in hand with the steep and rugged features and the character
of the soils of large areas in this region to render their use for other
than forest purposes impracticable.

The Great Smoky Mountains lying to the west and southwest of
the Blue Ridge are generally rough and valueless for any purpose
except the growing of timber. Throughout the higher mountains
cultivation is impracticable because the soils rapidly erode when
cleared and farmed. The sand and gravel washed from the moun-
tain fields are carried down in large quantities to the lower courses
of the streams in the piedmont region and deposited on valuable
agricultural lands, rendering them valueless. Single floods will

co) . . . .
occasionally leave deposits several feet in thickness.

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS.

In the Cumberland Mountain region the soils are naturally much
less productive than on and east of the Blue Ridge. They are more
similar to the soils of the Great Smoky Mountains, being derived
principally from sandstone. On the top of the escarpment which
borders the Tennessee Valley on the west, the character of the topog-
raphy is less rugged. The soils spread out more in the form of table-
lands, which often include areas of level to moderately rolling land.
The underlying rock, however, is so resistant to weathering that the
soil has seldom accumulated to much depth, and often it is very
stony from the fragments of sandstone. As a result, in many places
these soils are ill suited to agriculture. When of sufficient depth to
constitute agricultural land, moderate crops can be grown, but the
soil is not naturally very productive and requires a good deal of fer-
tilization. Transportation in this region also presents a difficult

roblem. The railroads have followed the little valleys, leaving the
road uplands between them, from which they are separated by a
steep escarpment of 1,000 feet or more, in an isolated location; hence
the possibilities for practicable and profitable agricultural develop-
ment in this region are very limited.

APPALACHIAN AND: WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 23

FOREST.

The Southern Appalachian forests fall naturally into three types—
cove, slope, and ridge—each with peculiar characteristics. The soil
in the coves is usually deep, moist, and fertile. The naturally good
conditions are supplemented where unaffected by fire by a deep,

artially decomposed layer of humus, which increases the moisture-
ielding capacity and prevents erosion. Yellow poplar, maple, and
hemlock are strictly limited to the coves. Black walnut and black
cherry once occupied the cove land also. It is in the coves that the
Southern Appalachian forest attains the greatest variety and lux-
uriance. It is here that growth is most rapid and the best quality of
timber is produced. The situation is also best for lumbering, hence
it was that the first cuttings of the Appalachian forests were in
this type.

The slopes have a better-drained soil than the coves, but one which
is less fertile. The maple, hemlock, and poplar of the coves give way
on the lower slopes to oak, chestnut, and hickory, where these species
have their most perfect development. White oak extends all the
way from the coves to the summits of the ridges, but on the slopes it
does best.

The ridges have a dry, stony soil and an exposed situation which
distinctly affects the kind and quality of their timber. The more
valuable trees of this type are chestnut, chestnut oak, black and red
oaks, and sometimes white oak and white pine. The severe condi-
tions result in scrubbier timber than is found on the slopes and unfit
the ridge lands to be handled profitably for the production of saw
timber. The lumbering of the ridges for the production of telephone
poles, railroad ties, tanbark, and extract wood is profitable, but on
account of the slow growth of the timber on the ridges the lumber-
man generally does not consider it profitable to cut conservatively and
protect the young growth for a second crop.

DAMAGE THROUGH CLEARING,

Originally the forest covered almo:t the entire Southern Appa-
lachian region. Due to clearing for agriculture, the forest is now
confined to the mountains and to the valley lands which are stony, cut
into steep hills, or wanting in fertile soil. All the best valleys are
cleared. The fields in many places extend far up the mountain sides,
frequently even to the summits.

In clearing land, only the undergrowth and small trees as a rule
are removed. The large trees are killed by girdling and left stand-
ing. One frequently sees’fields worn out and abandoned before the
girdled trees have fallen. New ground is usually cleared beside the
abandoned field and the same destructive process repeated. In
places may be seen three successive clearings—new, still cultivated,
and abandoned—with the dead trees still standing on all of them.

Clearing virgin forests for farms is going on steadily from year to
year to replace worn-out, eroded, and abandoned lands. Always the
movement is toward the higher lands, those lower down having fin-
ished their course.

Many small tracts, reaching thousands of acres in the aggregate,
unsuited for either tillage or grazing, have been cleared, especially

24 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

along the Blue Ridge. Most of them are depreciating from erosion.
While no longer in forest, they are fundamentally forest lands, and
their earning power can only be reestablished by replacing the forest
to which they are naturally adapted. While scarcely any of the
remaining timbered land is as valuable for agriculture as for timber,
under the present system a large portion of it is certain to be cleared.

LUMBERING AND FIRE.

The following table shows the area of forest in the mountainous
yart of each State, with the area and percentage of cut-over and
ive 4 ’ D
virgin land:

Taste 3.— Forested area of the Southern Appalachian region.

Total

ies ea Unlumbered and Lumbered and
ptate. forested lightly culled. second growth.
| |

Acres. Acres. Per cent. Acres. Per cent.
(ATA DEINE: - 2. - oc occ ons weet cememee tee eee 3, 730, 000 509, 000 14 3, 221, 000 86
Georelase eos fone. Base Soc wee .| 2,730, 000 432, 000 16 2, 298, 000 84
IS CUGUIGRGY: tarts = siceie sito went a eae 11, 785, 000 1, 185, 000 10 | 10,560, 000 90
EPG LATO 2 at Stele Sec eie ws iee eictee 716, 000 30, 000 4 686, 000 96
North Carolinas. 26225 hikes sacecoees awe .-| 4,771,000 1, 628, 000 34 | 3,183,000 66
South Carolima -.c- S26 ose e eee ee Loree 831, 000 142, 000 17 689, 000 83
MENTIOSSCO!. Sos Be Ftc ee ea cee ee ee 16, 483, 000 2, 584, 000 16 | 13,899, 000 84
WAT PITS, 22... 2k oe sa ce wnide se ste oes eee ae 7, 265, 000 1, 000, 000 14 6, 265, 000 86
WiGSs VITSINIa soe sas. on sae eee eee ae | 10, 272, C00 2, 250, 000 22 8, 022, 000 78
Total ese oot eee eee Sep aes ae 58, 583,000 | 9, 760, 000 17 | 48,823, 000 | 83

— —

Of the 58,583,060 acres of timberland, 17 per cent is uncut, while
83 per cent is cut over. The uncut timber as a rule is in the higher,
more inaccessible parts of the mountains. Occupying the ridges and
higher slopes, its unequal in quality and stand to the timber of the
lower slopes and coves. The cut-over lands are in all stages and
conditions of reproduction and growth. From some of it has been
removed only the best species, such as walnut and poplar. From
most of it the chestnut and oak, which form the main body of the
forest, have also been cut.

Over practically all of it, whether cut over or not, fires have burned
repeatedly and destroyed a large proportion of the young trees,
which, if allowed to grow, would now represent growth of from one
to fifty years. In like manner the undergrowth and the humus, both
vital parts of the forest, have suffered great injury. Following fire,
insects have at times wrought great local damage.

Lumbering is going on more extensively in the hardwood forests
of the Southern Appalachians than ever before. While in the past
seven years the hardwood cut has decreased in West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and Tennessee, the diminution of cutting has been chiefly in
the more level parts of these States. In the mountains, where heavy
cutting has not been going on for so long, the cut is probably as
heavy or heavier than ever. In North Carolina cutting in the
mountains has been heavy enough to increase the output of the
entire State. ,

There has been little tendency on the part of the lumberman to
conservative cutting. The usual belief is that, because of the danger

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 25

from fire and the high taxes on lands with standing timber, it does
not pay to cut lightly and protect the land for a second crop. Hence
the lumberman cuts the timber as heavily as possible, gets as much
money out of it as he can, and then transfers his operations to another
tract. It is the same principle as the mountain farmer adheres to
when he abandons a worn-out field for a new one.

Lumbering is attended with almost as much waste as ever. Actual
measurements in average operations of hardwood tie making show
that from 75 to 82 per cent of the whole tree and from 43 to 73 per
cent of the logs used is wasted. We realize that the waste is enor-
mous when we consider that probably 20,000,000 ties, each contain-
ing 22 cubic feet, are cut in this region every year. Railroad ties are
only one product. The manufacture of lumber and the making of
telephone poles and cooperage stock are attended with waste almost
as great.

The only industry that uses the forest without much waste is the
tannin-extract business, which, while using up the mature timber, is
open to objection in that it takes the chestnut and oak forests almost
clean, young trees and all.

Several active influences are thus constantly operating to reduce
the area and deteriorate the quality of the Southern Appalachian
forests. Clearing, destructive lumbering, and fire are far the most
prevalent and damaging, but grazing, mining, and insects con-
tribute to the injury in a local way. Although the area of the forest
is much less than formerly, these agencies are at work more actively
than ever before. Their combined influence, if unchecked, is suffi-
cient practically to obliterate the commercial forest of the Southern
Appalachians within the next sixteen years. All that is needed for
this result is a continuation of present conditions.

CONDITIONS IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The White Mountain region is drained by five large rivers—the
Connecticut, the Pemigewasset, the Saco, the Androscoggin, and
the Kennebec. The watersheds of these streams form a very rough
and rugged region broken up into many short mountain ranges sep-
arated by deep, narrow valleys. The White Mountains proper, the
most rugged and elevated portion, cover about 812,000 acres. Seventy-
four peaks reach a height of over 3,000 feet, and of these eleven
are over 5,000 feet. The tallest, Mount Washington, rises to an
altitude of 6,290 feet, and is among the tallest peaks east of the Mis-
sissippi River.

A characteristic of the topography is the great irregularity of
arrangement of the mountains. With the exception of the Presi-
dential Range, there are no long ranges. The greatest number of
peaks are in irregular groups, or isolated. The three main ranges,
the Presidential, the Carter-Moriah, and the Franconia, have a gen-
eral northeast and southwest direction.

The Presidential Range is the most important. In it are included
nine of the eleven peaks with elevations above 5,000 feet. It is pop-
ularly considered as extending only from Mount Madison on the

26 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS,

north to Mount Webster on the south, and includes the following
peaks: Madison, the three Adamses, Jefferson, Clay, Washington,
Monroe, Franklin, Pleasant Dome, Clinton, and Webster. This
stretch of country is about 15 miles long by 5 miles in breadth and
contains about 50,000 acres.

This range is the source of five rivers, by which it is drained—the
Saco, the Ammonoosuc, and Israel, tributaries of the Connecticut,
and the Moose and Peabody, tributaries of the Androscoggin.

The underlying rock is granitic gneiss. By disintegration and
mixture with organic matter it forms a loamy sand. The depth of
the soil varies with the elevation, aspect, and gradient. In the
valleys and on the lower slopes the soil is generally deep, with little
outcropping rock. With ascent in altitude and increase in gradient
the depth increases, till on the steep upper slopes there are only
immense masses of bare outcropping rock and scattered bowlders.

Next to the Presidential Range, the Carter-Moriah Range is of the
most importance. It runs parallel to the Presidential Range and is
separated from it by the Glen Ellis and Peabody rivers. The highest
peak is Carter Dome, with an elevation of 4,860 feet, and there are
eight peaks in all, with elevations of over 4,000 feet. The general
character of the soil and underlying rock is the same as on the Presi-
dential Range. The range is about 20 miles long and from 2 to 7
miles wide. It is entirely surrounded by the five rivers by which it
is drained—the Peabody and Glen Ellis rivers on the west, the Wild
and the east branch of the Saco on the east and south, and the
Androscoggin on the north. The Peabody and Wild rivers flow
anaaa into the Androscoggin, and the Glen Ellis flows into the

aco.

The northern part of the White Mountain region, in Coos County,
N. H., is flatter than the White Mountains proper, and contains many
lakes and low mountains with wide rolling valleys between. The
Connecticut Lakes, the headwaters of the Connecticut River, lie in the
northern part of this region. These lakes are smail. The protection
of the watershed around them is therefore of greater importance than
if they were large and formed a greater storage area for water.

The area in Maine includes 700,000 acres in Oxford and Franklin
counties. This entire region is very rough and rugged, containing no
regular ranges of mountains, but being broken up into a great number
of irregular peaks and ridges. The five Rangeley lakes, the head-
waters of the Androscoggin River, lie in the southern part of this
region. North of these lakes, in the Magalloway, Cufsuftic, and Ken-
nebago watersheds, the country is extremely rough, including a great
number of tall mountain peaks, extending up to the Boundary Moun-
tains between the United States and Canada. The extreme eastern
portion of this area lies in the Dead River watershed, the extreme
headwaters of a tributary of the Kennebec River. The land in this
watershed is flatter than to the west and contains many small lakes,
‘ponds, and bogs. For this reason the protection of the watersheds is
not of so great importance as in the more mountainous country to the
west, and the main watershed of the Kennebec River has not, there-
fore, been included in the proposed boundary lines.

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS, 27
AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES.

The entire region is essentia!ly a forest country. That the land is,
for the most part, better suited to forest production than to agri-
cultural use is evidenced by the once cultivated lands which have
now come up to forests of second-growth spruce and pine. Where
repeated fires have not kept back the young growth these give good
promise for the future. Thousands of acres of once cleared land have
been abandoned throughout the White Mountains, and a smaller
area of land is now farmed than fifty years ago. Only along the
intervales and valley bottoms is good farming land found.

The farm land in the Saco drainage basin, which contains the largest
area of cultivated land in the White Mountain region proper, lies
chiefly in the eastern and southern portions. The soil is sandy and
poor, and except right along the streams the farming is not good.
The principal crops are clover and timothy hay, oats, rye, wheat, corn
and potatoes, peas and beans. There are a few orchards, usually
overgrown and neglected.

North of the White Mountains proper practically no land has been
cleared for agricultural purposes, and in the greater part of this coun-
try there are no settlements of any kind save the logging camps and
an occasional hunter’s cabin or summer hotel orcamp.

FOREST.

Originally the entire northern region, including the White Moun-
tains proper, was covered with a dense forest of conifers. It was pri-
marily a spruce country, and the spruce here attained fine dimensions.
White pine, too, covered large areas and was mixed with spruce
over much of the region. Balsam occurred in mixture on the upper
slopes and the lower, moister localities. There was originally very
little fine hardwood forest except south of the main ranges of the
White Mountains.

In the White Mountains proper, red spruce and balsam are the pre-
vailing species, and reach the highest elevations on the mountains.
North of the White Mountains these trees with white cedar, and
around the Connecticut Lakes with white spruce, are the chief
conifers. Lumbering has brought about a great change in the
species. Hemlock and white pine, once common at low elevations
and along the valleys, are now of but little importance in the forest.
Yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech are the commonest of the hard-
woods and have greatly increased in numbers on the cut-over land.
But little of the original forest is now left. Where there was formerly
a heavy stand of spruce and balsam there is now a hardwood forest
with a little spruce in mixture. Where fires have occurred there is
a tangle of wild red cherry, yellow birch, and aspen.

Hardwoods occur on the lower slopes and deeper, better soils.
Here yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech are now the characteristic
trees, with considerable spruce in mixture. The spruce forms a bet-
ter timber tree on these slopes than in any other situations. These
hardwood slopes rarely extend above an altitude of 2,400 feet. The
forest is, as a rule, dense and clean, with a heavy shade. The ground
cover consists chiefly of witch hobble, mountain maple, and moun-

28 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

tain ash. The shade is too heavy for good softwood reproduction, but
the reproduction of hardwoods, particularly of sugar maple and beech,
is often very thick, with a dense matting of young seedlings covering
the ground. Very little of this type is now left in virgin forest in
the White Mountain region itself, since it was easily lumbered.

Spruce and balsam occur at present on the steeper slopes where
the soil is shallow, and the hardwoods do not thrive so well. Unmer-
chantable spruce and balsam are found on the extreme upper slopes
and finally run out into a scrubby growth near the summits. The
stand is usually dense. Where the forest has been undisturbed the
ground cover is moss. The balsam reproduction is often very thick
and the spruce reproduction generally fair.

Spruce slopes cover the greatest area of any of the forest types
in this region. Where these slopes are cut over, if fire is kept out,
the softwoods return in the second growth. Where fire runs over
the ground after lumbering, however, in many cases the entire soil
is burned and washed away and the process of return to forest con-
ditions is very slow. In some cases, as on the Sugar Loaves, in the
township of Carroll, it will never be complete.

There is practically no real swamp land in northern New Hamp-
shire, although in places the spruce flats approach such a type. There
are, however, small areas of swamp of spruce bogs, chiefly in the
northern part of Coos County. These have a very dense, scrubby
growth of black and red spruce and balsam. -In Maine such bogs
are more common, and a number of swamps are found, particularly
in the Cufsuftic watershed.

LUMBERING AND FIRE.

Six large lumber and pulp companies are now engaged in logging
operations in this region, besides a large number of smaller concerns.
But little virgin spruce timber is now left, and at the present rate of
lumbering it can last but a few years longer. As far as possible these
companies get their present supplies by purchasing stumpage on
small holdings in order to preserve the timber on their own lands as
long as possible, and owing to the fact that stumpage can now be
bought cheaper than it ever can again. When these small holdings
are lumbered in this way, they are almost always ‘‘skinned”’ to the
last merchantable stick. Owners of the smaller tracts themselves
often cut their woodlands in the same manner in order to get as much
present revenue as possible. Throughout the mountains the worst
destruction has been done on the high slopes, and fire has often fol-
lowed with terrible results.

Clean cutting is practiced on all the steeper slopes. The spruce
logs are rolled down the slope to the road below over the merchant-
able stuff and the hardwoods, which are first felled down the slope
and thus form a good rolling bed. The hardwoods are left lying on
the ground unused. The result is a veritable fire trap that lasts for
years. In 1903, 84,250 acres of land were burned over in the White
Mountain region. While this land was for the most part cut over, a
conservative estimate would place the amount of damage at some-
thing over $200,000. This was a particularly bad year for fires, but
the same conditions of drought may occur at any time, and, without
proper protection, the area burned over may even exceed that burned

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 29

in 1903. Once a fire starts on cut-over lands, with wind and weather
favorable to its spread, it is usually impossible to combat it with any
success. Where the cut has been heavy and the resulting débris cor-
respondinely large, all the difficulties of fire fighting are proportionately
increased. All kinds of waste material left in the woods supply food
for the flames, but the leaving of large, unlopped softwood tops on
the ground adds enormously to the fury of a brush fire and greatly
prolongs the length of time that a slash remains a menace to its own
and surrounding areas. These large tops, propped up from the soil
by their branches, are very slow to decay and become very dry. A
large area in the Zealand Valley was burned over in 1903, eleven years’
after the last’ lumbering. This valley, which had been logged for
spruce saw logs only, is an example of the great length of time that
cut-over land must be specially protected against fire even when a
very large proportion of the stand is left after logging.

Fires on cut-over land usually kill all standing timber left, as well
as all the young growth. On the steep slopes, where they are par-
ticularly likely to spread, owing to the method of clear cutting on
such slopes, the destruction of the soil is almost certain. On many
slopes the presence of any forest growth whatever is due to the
accumulation, through the ages, of a mass of organic matter which
held the mineral particles of rock as they were gradually disinte-
grated, preventing their being washed to the bottom of the slope.
The soil that obtains to-day on such areas is very largely organic
matter, and when fire-swept, if dry, is so nearly consumed, especially
by repeated fires, that the remaining mineral particles are easily
washed away until nothing but bare rocks remain. <A _ thousand
years will not replace this soil and a growth of trees upon it.

On such areas the water run-off is much more rapid than on uncut
or even on cut but unburned areas, as nothing remains to retard or hold
the rain water on the slopes. There is little left but bare rocks, and
the water runs off very rapidly, causing floods and freshets in the
valleys below and extremely low water soon after, owing to the fact
that little water is retained on the slopes to be given out later as on
forested land.

VALUE FOR RECREATION.

The White Mountains are visited annually by thousands of people
from every State in the Union, and from foreign countries as well.
No other section of the country is so accessible to so many of the
greater eastern cities. In consequence, it forms a great recreation
ground for thousands of people. The very existence of the region
as a summer resort depends directly upon the protection of the forest
from fire and destructive lumbering, which absolutely destroy the
beauty of the landscape. The virgin forest still remaining in the
White Mountain region proper is practically confined to two locali-
ties—one on the northern slope of the Presidential Range, and the
other that in Waterville. Clear cutting of this virgin growth will
undoubtedly greatly detract from the value of these localities for
summer resorts. The natural beauty of the mountains is enhanced
by their forest covering. Without this they are bare and unattract-
ive, and when fires occur after logging the landscape is rendered
bleak and desolate.

80 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS,
AREAS OF ESPECIAL IMPORTANCE.

Owing to the high price that would have to be paid for virgin forest
land, but little of such land can be bought. Certain small areas of
virgin forest should, however, be preserved, surrounding places of
particular importance, as recreation grounds. The destruction of
the forest upon them would almost completely destroy their value.
These places are frequented by thousands of people: annually, and
their preservation is of great importance. On invitation, representa-
tives of the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Massachusetts For-
estry Association, and the Society for the Protection of New Hamp-
shire Forests cooperated with the Forest Service in locating five such
areas. Their combined area will not exceed 5,000 acres.

One area is located on the north slope of the Presidential Range
around the ravine of the Cascades and extends from an area that has
been recently logged over up to the limit of merchantable timber at
an elevation of 4,000 feet. It includes the slopes on both sides of and
above the Cascade Falls. These falls are much frequented by camp-
ers and vacationists, and this would be the only area of virgin tim-
berland left on the north slope of the Presidential Range. Another
area is located around the Glen Ellis Falls and extends in a narrow
strip from here, on both sides of the trail, up through Tuckermans
ravine on the slopes of Mount Washington to an elevation of 4,000
feet, the limit of merchantable timber. Another area is situated on
the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River, where Cedar and Shoal
Pond brooks come in. This is a popular camping spot for parties
crossing from the Crawford Notch region through the Pemigewasset
Valley to North Woodstock, and is very much used for camping.
Another tract is situated 7 miles west of North Woodstock on the
Mousilauke Brook. At this point, about 1 mile from its source on
Mount Mousilauke, the brook disappears underground and flows
through a series of caverns for a distance of nearly half a mile, being
here called ‘‘Lost River.’”’ This underground stream is one of the
remarkable natural features in the White Mountains. Some twenty
or more caverns make the whole place one of unusual interest. Still
another area is Eagle Cliff, which is a combination of six mountains,
ranging in height from 2,400 to 3,100 feet, all combined in one mass-
ive group, in the Franconia Notch. The south side of this cliff is very
steep and overlooks the Profile House, but on the opposite (north)
side it is more sloping in character, extending down to the wild bed
of Lafayette Brook, and is covered with a forest growth, mixed spruce
and hardwoods, of remarkable evenness and beauty. It is the most
prominent forest on the Franconia Range and one of the most promi-
nent to be found on any of the mountains.

AREA AND LOCATION OF LANDS NEEDING PROTECTION.

In order to determine the extent of the lands primarily available
for forests in the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain regions,
a reconnaissance survey has been made, as a result of which the
accompanying maps have been prepared. Maps I and II show for
the two regions the lands to be classed as distinctly mountainous
and nonagricultural. :

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APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 3b

The main centers for such mountainous and nonagricultural lands
in the Southern Appalachians are, first, the Blue Ridge and Great
eenrom Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, South Carolina
and Georgia; second, the Allegheny Mountains of eastern and south-
ern West Virginia and western Virginia, and, third, the Cumberland
Mountains of eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, and northern Alabama.
These lands include the main mountain ranges, and the roughest,
wildest land of the region. Naturally, they embrace a smaller pro-
portion of agricultural | Jands than other parts of the region, and those
which they “do embrace have for the most part been eliminated, as
will be seen from the irregular boundaries on the map. Regardless
of these eliminations they still include some small bodies of ‘agricul
tural lands. These areas, though they contain only 40 per cent ‘of the
timbered land of the Southern Appalachians, include almost all of
the virgin timberlands, because the virgin timber which remains is
mostly situated on the high mountains. Even though these lands
do produce an inferior grade of timber, their sole use must be for
timber production. There is no other crop which will hold the grav-
elly, stony soil in place and keep it from clogging the channels of
streams and covering the agricultural valleys which lie below.
These nonagricultural and. mountainous lands, approximating 23
million acres, give rise to all the important streams which have their
source in the Southern Appalachians. They are therefore the vital
ortions of these mountains. Whatever work is done to protect the
Se ikarn Appalachians must center in these areas. The proportion
to which these lands fall into different States and watersheds is
shown in the following tables:

Tasie 4.—Area, by States, of nonagricultural and mountainous lands in the Southern
Appalachians.

State. Area. State. | Area
|
Acres . | | Acres
OLR 3S rr 4POG7 O00 West Vaspinia. 22)... ss. ccsckcees | 5, 797, 060
WAM MEE ee N65 ot ene eas CR Se 3,882,060 || South Hanoline 4000 ck cts 590, 000
SWI) SO ees ae eee eee 491, 000 | ES) EN OES 2m Oe arene a ae een 277,900
Latga tea ole chee cl cL 1,806, 000 | Mmeerss 2S
TERR MA ae <i) i oe < oo tin ek win 1, 623, 000 | TROT RI eo hee eat Peo nk oc bide 23, 310, 000
ASPorerite DEY Clee 41. al oer re 3, 882, 000

TaBLE 5.—Area, by watersheds, of nonagricultural and mountainous lands in the
Southern Appalachians. ;

Watershed. Area. Watershed. Area.

| Acres. Acres.

CPE Eo 2) oe) a a ee SOOO AY eitkaet se Jere Se se doe 428,000
Greaney es 2A Da Oa MEI PRE OT nen c= Ses coke Se tte oe ee 20, 000
Hig SEieeereesen ts 0 SS os aoe 582,000 || Catawba...-.-..--- 3, 502, 000
ORR Bee et ee ee oe 1,138,000 || Broad ._.......... 2 289,000
Roanoke (Staunton) ............-- 431,000 || Potomac....... : 2.095, 000
New (Kanawha) ._..-.- 3, 225, 000 i Chattahoochee -. 345, 000
Big Sandy 1, 347, 000 Littl Pigeon.-. | 19, 009
Hiawassee 1,066,000 || Twelve Pole..-- 1,000
datiic ‘Tennessean... .. ic... 5.2 ~ 1,307,000 || Savannah__........ | 860, 000
BTEC RDS = oie s + -oee ewes 623,060 | Guyandotte - 660, 000
Fas. bla eee Ses Se ae Bap UNG) 1) Mee 5. Sees een ss aks 100. 000
Hgiesonbyer oo — eke oN oo et GD OOD | SGOTIECRCY oe oe whew eae ite nt 156, 000
Miononpeneie.. 2... =<. .<.5.+-.---- LEE GEC |S GC ch 2) as BS ee 767, 000
INDNGhenvie sano sson2* sei cote oe 379, 000 | _———___—.
MONSOON ETIY spots. uae caeee ek. 117,000 | SUTRD SL Ne pee Ne eas | 23, 310, 000
ge iinyo) fob: 1a ae Se eS eee eee ae 151, 000 |

32 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

While the lands shown on the map are all in need of protection,
they are not all of equal importance when all economic points of view
are considered.

The lands to be classed as of first importance include the mountain
ridges mainly, but extend considerable distances down the slopes in those
localities where the soil is particularly subject to erosion and on the
watersheds of streams of greatest importance for water power or naviga-
tion. The area of such lands does not exceed 5,000,000 acres.

The same class of land for the White Mountain region is shown
in Map IT. It lies in both New Hampshire and Maine. Excluding
the numerous bodies of water, their area in New Hampshire is
1,457,000 acres, and in Maine 700,000 acres, making a total of
2,157,000 acres. The proportion in which this falls in the five water
systems included is as follows:

Acres
Connecttdt=,- Aes Ne. A RT ee 429, 000
MerTIEM ACT ick ugha ce Jase we eetelt . yee eee) ee eer eee 264, 000
ACO: 3h oc< ERR be Fe oars otal foie choral og oe ae op Ee ee ee 332, 000
AGIGBOSEOROTEN - 2 20 op cele Snide Riel ee ere a oe er 1, 002, 000
Wenne eet eee 26 ein See ae SE ee ee See ee ee. ee er 130, 000
Ro tals oes Ais hs. kce eh ~ oe tee ee ie ce 2, 157, 000

There is also shown on this map an area embracing only the four
main ranges of the White Mountains. A few thousand acres of this
area lie in Maine. Allthe rest isin New Hampshire. This principal
White Mountain area covers 668,000 acres, and, considering all economic
points of view, is the most important part of the region.

TREATMENT OF THE REGION.

The areas indicated in the preceding section, 23,310,000 acres in
the Southern Appalachians and 2,157,000 acres in the White Moun-
tains, do not include all the mountainous timberlands of the Appa-
lachians. Asis discussed under the heading “ Importance of Appa-
lachian forests for hardwood supply,” there are probably 75,000,000
acres in this mountain system more important for timber production
than for any other purpose. This area will have to be given protec-
tion before the hardwood supply is on a safe footing and before the
watersheds of the important streams are adequately safeguarded.

It is an enormous undertaking to bring this immense area of
75,000,000 acres under proper conditions of protection and use. If
the Government owned the land, the problem would be a compara-
tively simple one under our present forest policy. The Government
owns almost none of it, and it can not be expected to undertake the
purchase of such an area which at present prices would amount to
many millions of dollars.

The land is owned by individuals or companies whose chief interest
is immediate profit. Considering past and present conditions one is
forced to the conclusion that the individual holders are not going to
manage these lands in a way commensurate with public welfare. On
account of the difficulty of protecting them from fire, and on account
of the high tax rates which are common on cut-over timberlands, the
owners consider that it does not pay them to do so.

b
APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 338

The several States of the Appalachian region can not protect these
lands as a whole. They may control certain areas of them, as the
States of New York and Pennsylvania are doing, but as a rule the
national or interstate bearings of the problem are such as to make it
unreasonable to expect that the States will purchase these lands and
put them under management. A few examples make this clear. No
State of the group feels it ncumbent upon itself to provide the Nation’s
supply of hardwood timber. The State of West Virginia does not feel
keenly the necessity of protecting the upper watershed of the Monon-
gahela River because certain cities of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ken-
tucky are inundated and suffer damage by the Monongahela floods.
North Carolina will never purchase and protect the headwaters of the _
Yadkin and Catawba rivers because the navigation and water-power
interests on these streams in South Carolina suffer from the denuda-
tion of the mountain forests. In the case of almost every watershed
there are complications of this kind.

While none of the three, the Federal Government, the individual
holders, or the several States, can be expected to try to solve the
problem as-a whole, the problem is nevertheless so important that it
must be solved, and all three are in a position to be keenly interested
in its solution. Therefore it is necessary to consider whether a way
may be found by which all three may participate in solving it.

Since the lands are now in the hands of individuals the simplest
procedure would appear to be by an arrangement whereby the
greater part of the region could be handled by individuals so that the
property would not change control. Considering the vast extent of
the lands, it seems almost inevitable that if they are to be protected
at all, they must be protected mainly by the individuals who own
them. Can this be done? It can be done, if at all, only by mak-
ing it profitable for individuals to hold these lands after cutting
them over. It may be stated as the rule that timberland owners
_ would not want to sell their lands and would put forestry into effect
upon them if it were not for the difficulty of protecting them from fire
and the high rate of taxation which prevails in many parts of the
Appalachian region. But individuals alone can not overcome these
great obstacles.

What individuals under present conditions cannot do, however, can
be made possible by the States. It is possible for the States to pass
such laws for fire protection as to insure the safety of the most valuable
timberlands. This is being done by a number of the States with con-
siderable and increasing success. The problem of equitable taxation
for forest lands is a more difficult one and it has not as yet been solved.
Its solution is necessary, however, and necessary in the immediate
future.

If the States of the Appalachian region would set themselves to the
providing of efficient fire laws and the solution of the question of forest
taxation, they would do a work of incalculable importance in the pro-
tection of the Appalachian forests. They would make it not only
possible but profitable to put under protection and conservative man-
agement practically all of those lands which are suited to the produc-
tion of the most valuable kinds of timber, and which are accessible for
economical administration and lumbering.

34 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS,

Inaccessible lands, lands where the rate of timber growth is mod-
erate or slow, or lands on which the timber when mature is not of the
best quality, can scarcely be affeeted by this procedure. Something
additional must be done to protect them. Such lands in the White
Mountains and the Southern Appalachians lie almost altogether within
the areas designated in Maps I and Il of thisreport. For the most part,
they make up the 668,000 acres in the White Mountains and the
5,000,000 acres in the Southern Appalachians, already mentioned as
being of first importance for protective purposes.

In the control of these lands does not the Federal Government
have a large obligation and a corresponding opportunity? A careful
study of their character and of their relation to the administration
of the entire region convinces me that it has, for the following reasons:

1. The safeguarding of these lands can not be accomplished by
action of the States in passing fire and tax laws. Some special action
taken with a view, primarily, of public welfare is necessary.

2. These lands are of value solely for timber production. They
lie above the limits of fruit growing and farming. Ii not in timber
they must come to a condition of absolute waste, the prey of fire and
any sort of abuse or mismanagement. Cared for, they will form a
valuable addition to the future timber supply, which the Govern-
ment must take action to secure.

3. These lands form the most important part of the two regions.
Having the greatest elevation, they receive the largest amount of rain-
fall; being steepest, they are most subject to erosion. Therefore their
influence on the streams of the region is far greater, for good or ill,
than the influence of any other areas of equal extent.

4. Every acre of these lands is on the watershed of a navigable
stream on which for the removal of sand and silt the Government is
even now spending money in large amounts. The sand and silt which
are now in the rivers have come from the cleared slopes of gentler
gradient and lower elevation than those remaining in forest. If the ~
forest is destroyed from these higher lands the expense of keeping the
stream clear will be multiplied many times.

5. The States can not afford to protect these lands. The timber
which they can produce is not valuable enough for the State to protect
them for the timber crop. Almost without exception they lie on the
watershed of a stream which has its chief commercial importance in
another State. Therefore no State is willing to put them under con-
trol for the protective value of their forest.

6. By taking control of these lands the Federal Government would
be in a position to exert by example and cooperation a far-reaching
influence for the safeguarding of the two regions. With relatively
small bodies of land on each of twelve or fifteen important water-
sheds, it could cooperate with other landowners on each watershed
in protecting the locality from fire and m the introduction of improved
methods of forest management. Advices from timberland owners
in many localities justify the opinion that in this way conservative
forest management can be effected over millions of acres of private
lands. In my judgment it is clear that by the ownership of 5,000,000
acres in the Southern Appalachians and 600,000 acres in the White
Mountains the Government ean lead the way to the nght manage-
ment and use of the entire areas designated on the maps.

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 35
IMMEDIATE ACTION DESIRABLE.

If this is a good programme of action, the Government should
undertake its part of it without delay. Some of the States already
show a tendency to act in line with it. Maine, New York, Pennsyl-
vania, and Maryland have already fire laws nearly, if not quite, ade-
quate for the situation. Alabama, in a special session of its legis-
lature, has just enacted a similar-law. Other States are showing an
interest which indicates action within the next year or two. The
Government should not delay. It will clear the situation immensely
if the Government will say how far it will undertake to go, and imme-
diately enter upon its work.

If the Federal Government is willing to purchase land in the
Southern Appalachians to the extent of 5,000,000 acres, and in the
White Mountains to the extent of 600,000 acres, it should choose
these lands in situations where they will have the most influence
upon the protection and management of the two regions. In the
Southern Appalachians these lands would not le in one body. They
would lie in no jess than ten or twelve bodies, and on different water-
sheds. In the White Mountains the lands would lie for the most
part in one body, which would include the Presidential, Franconia,
Sandwich, and Carter-Moriah ranges of mountains.

METHOD OF ACQUIREMENT AND COST OF LANDS.
WHITE MOUNTAINS.

The timberlands of the White Mountains are in the main held by
a few large companies, nearly all of whom are cutting extensively
on the spruce stands for pulp or lumber manufacture. The plants
of some of these companies represent an investment of stents hun-
dred thousand dollars. Manifestly, in negotiating for these lands,
in so far as they bear uncut timber, the value of, the plant must enter
into the consideration. In addition, the stumpage value of spruce
ranges from $4.50 to $6 or $7 per thousand. This would give the
best stands a value of $75 to $125 or more per acre. it is useless for
the Government to attempt the purchase of virgin stands of spruce
in these mountains, except on small areas surrounding points of
especial scenic interest. These in the aggregate will not exceed 5,000
acres.

The hardwoods of the White Mountains, of which there is a large
area, have not the value of spruce, nor are they as yet being exten-
sively cut. Their stumpage value is from $2.50 to $4 per thousand,
depending upon location, stand, and quality.

It is clear that in the main any purrehinse made by the Government
in this region must be on the basis of cut-over lands with respect to
both spruce and hardwoods. As a rule the spruce has been cut clean.
The hardwoods, where cut at all, are culled so that a considerable
stand of young timber may remain after cutting. A considerable por-
tion of the cut-over land has been burned over, some of it so severely
as to destroy all possibility of a future stand of timber for many years
to come.

The cut-over lands have a value ranging from $1 to $6 or $8 per
‘acre, depending upon the condition of the timber growth upon them.

36 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.

The question of the acquirement of timberlands by the Govern-
ment 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-over land, 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 Appa-
lachians 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 tim-
ber 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 tim-
ber 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 deal-
ers, 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

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 37

have to be paid by individuals in purchasing the same lands. Some
landowners might attempt to charge the Government more, but,
on the other hand, there are those who appreciate the advantages
of the Government’s going into this work, and they would rather
sell to the Government than to any other purchaser.

To purchase land economically in either region the Government
should not limit itself closely either as to time or locality. Pur-
chase should be undertaken in several localities at once, as in this
way competition can be induced.

There should be no undue anxiety or haste to acquire land in any
particular locality. Haste would mean the fixing of too high a
standard of prices and result in waste of money, and besides would
certainly involve the Government in difficulty with respect to titles,
which in both regions present complications. The acquirement of
the necessary lands in either region can best be accomplished by a
steady process worked out through several years of purchasing those
lands which are desirable, which are offered at the most advantageous
rates, and to which valid title can be secured.

The right to take lands under condemnation proceedings would
be helpful, especially, in some instances, to perfect title, but the
condemnation right must be handled with the greatest care and judg-
ment and should be used only to clear title and in other cases of
extreme necessity.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

In view of the conditions described on the foregoing pages, it is
clear that the Government should undertake without delay the
acquisition of a definitely restricted amount of land in specified
watersheds in the White Mountains and in the Southern Appalachians
for the establishment of national forests.

In the White Mountains it is reeommended that the Government
acquire an area of not to exceed 600,000 acres within the area desig-
nated on the accompanying map and so situated as to embrace as
much as possible of the Presidential, Franconia, Sandwich, and
Carter-Moriah mountain ranges; that a limit of $6 per acre be fixed
as the average price to be paid for cut-over lands; that an appropria-
tion of $1,250,000 be made immediately available for such purchase:
furthermore, that $250,000 additional be appropriated for the pur-
chase of the timber in its present condition, surrounding the five
important recreation points described on page 30.

In the Southern Appalachians it is recommended that areas aggre-
gating not more than 5,000,000 acres be purchased within the limits
designated on the accompanying map, and distributed, as may seem
advisable, over the higher watersheds of the following rivers: Potomac,
James, Roanoke, Yadkin, Catawba, Broad, Saluda, Savannah, Chat-
tahoochee, Coosa, Tennessee, New, Cumberland, Kentucky, Monon-
gahela; that the limit of average price be fixed at $3.50 per acre; and
that an appropriation of $3,500,000 be made immediately available
to begin the purchases.

It is recommended also that the Government adopt in both regions
a policy of cooperation with timberland owners in order to bring
about the protection of private forests from fire, and the general adop-
tion of improved methods of cutting.

38 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS.
NATIONAL FORESTS WOULD AID LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

If established, national forests should in every way benefit the
industries of the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain regions.
Their influence upon the lumber industry would be to make it per-
manent rather than temporary, because its supply of raw material
would be made permanent. As rapidly as the timber on the forests
became large enough to be used it would be sold, but the young tim-
ber would be reserved from sale, protected, and held for a future crop.

The action of the Government in protecting from fire large areas
of forest would largely solve the fire preblem in the two regions.
Forest fires are the greatest obstacle to private forestry throughout
the Appalachians. Let this be removed, and private forestry in
many localities will become not only entirely practicable but rela-
tively simple. In this result alone the oneal forests would be of
ereat help to the lumber industry.

To mining and prospecting the national forests would introduce
no obstacles, as both operations could go on within the forests unhin-
dered, just as they do in the Western States. In general, the Gov-
ernment should purchase the land without the mineral rights, and
where the mineral rights were obtained regular provision should be
made for their disposal. On the other hand, by insuring a future
timber supply the reserves would be of the greatest value to the
mines, which consume great quantities of wood. Often the profita-
bleness of mining is determined solely by the presence or absence
of a good supply of mining timbers.

To farming and fruit growing the national forests should give
material stimulus. The protection of the higher mountain slopes
would greatly increase the safety of farming and fruit growing in
the valleys below. No agricultural lands should be included. Should
it be necessary to purchase small tracts of farming land in order to
obtain large areas of important mountain land, provision should be
made for reselling or otherwise utilizing them. The forests need not
interfere in the slightest degree with the settlers who own and cul-
tivate small areas of farm land along the mountain streams. Neither
would they stop the use of the mountains for grazing where there
is proper food for stock. The high mountain tops or “‘balds” which
sometimes would be included, and other good grass lands, could be
grazed without interfering with the purposes of the forests.

The many other uses which can be made of the mountains would
be facilitated rather than hindered. Such uses are for power develop- -
ment, hotel and residence sites, rights of way, and sawmills. The
forests would not reduce the population of the region; on the con-
trary, they would increase the population by increasing the demand
for labor and making more stable and permanent the local industries.

It has been raised as an objection against the proposed forests that
they would reduce the funds of the counties affected, by cutting down
the taxable property. This should not be the case. In the West
the Government returns to the counties 10 per cent of all revenues
received from its forests in them. This more than compensates for
the loss of taxes. The same should be done in the Kast.

To the local residents of the Appalachian region the forests should
be of great benefit. In addition to the protection they would give to
farming and the permanence they moult give to the lumber industry,

APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 39

they would materially improve the opportunities for labor. In the
first place, the management and protection of the reserves would
be largely in the hands of local men, the best men obtainable being
selected, just as is now done in the West. As the prevention of fire
would be very important, a considerable force of men would be
required in summer; and as there would always be more or less logging
and construction work going on, there would be winter work as well.
In the second place, a large amount of planting should be done as
quickly as arrangements could be made for it. Many thousand acres
of cut-over and eroded lands ought to be planted up, which will mean
a large force of men working through several years.

National forests would mean the development of the Southern
Appalachian and White Mountain regions beyond any point which
would be possible without them. More and better roads and trails
would have to be built, bridges constructed, and telephone lines put
up. In all of this work the Government should cooperate with the
local people just as it does in the West. During the present year
$500,000 will be expended in such improvement work on the western
national forests, and more will be required in the future. The East
needs similar help from the Federal Government in the development
of its mountain forest lands.

The policy here recommended, if carried out, will with certainty
have as its ultimate effects the conservation, improvement, and
increased use of the wood, water, and other resources of the Appa-
lachian region. The benefits which accrue, while they will be direct
and distinct for the local region, will be in their largest degree na-
tional. Every section of the United States will share in them.

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