New-York tribune., 1883-03-11
ALESSON FROM THE FLOODS.

The destructive volume of the recent West
erli floods was aggravated in some small degree
no doubt by the removal of the protecting for
est growth from portions of the mountain re-
glOns where the tributaries OF the swollen nv
ers take their rise But it shoud bo Telnem-
bered that all rivers hare their periods OF high
water, especially when warm rains suddenly dis
solve heavy accumulatons OF snow. The chan
mel of the Ohio ran brimful of water in certain
exceptional years while the entire western
slope of the Appalachian range was clothed with
unbroken forest. Since the axes of pioneer and
logger have every year been making wider
havoc in the primeval forest on the lower noun
tains there has been no such regular increase III
the violence of the spring freshets and no such
steady dminution in the rivers volume during
the summer as to prove that the sweeping away
Of the forest has interfered to any dangerous
extent with the equable flow OF the ONO.
And vet the conservative influence OF forests IN
mitigating the extremes of drouth and deluge is
universally admitted. If this had not been
proved by the desolatiOn which already relgns
in Asia Minor and threatens Southern Europe
more seriously every year, little reflection will
sufIice to convince any one that the benedcent
| influence is genuine and not imaginary.
| thick coating of leaves and decayed wood,
| light porous and warm, like great blanket OF
wool spread over thousands OF square miles,wlll
absorb and detain enough water to drown the
| low lands along the streams which drain such
| regions if it should be suddenly let loose in
stead of being gradually filtered through the
unfrozen ground to the deep reservoirs which
feed perennial springs. And this consideration
| does not take into account the protecting shade
of the woods, the underground channels opened
by the deep, rock splitting tree-roots for the
downward delivery of the rains, the check to
surface wash offered by matted understands, or
the various other ways in which forests operate
to hold the forces of nature in stable equilibrium
and maintain regular ana uniform circula-
ton of water between the clouds and the sea-
The clearing away of forests on the plains
| where a great river has its bed is not serious
matter as compared with the denudation of
the high and broken country about the river
basins rim. When restraints npon the flow Of
water upon these steep slopes are removed deep
gullles are ploughed down the fanks Of the
| mountains AS the soft surface soil is washed
| downward the torrents gather Increased mo-
mentum every year and work wider devasta-
| ton, until at last when every natural barrier
| against their violence is swept away, the entire
fall of rain or snow upon the mountains pOurs off
| in periodical deuges TO devastate the plains
| below. Fortunately our high mountains are as
vet practically tree-covered. Only an inconsid-
| erable fraction Of the forests which guard the
| head waters of our rivers has been destroyed,
with the exception perhaps OF few streams
which now toward the Atlantic out OF Pennsy
vania. Until Low their inaccessibiity and dis
| tance from the lumber markets have preserved
| them. All along the upper Alleghanies for
est which, in spite OF invasion here and there, is
practically unbroken, stands guard over the
Ohio and other rivers flowing westward. There
is some comfort to be drawn from this TACT, hut
it is this very condition of things which ought
to compel us to give heed to the lessons OF the
foods. For if the waters can be SO destructive
now in spite of all the beneiicent restraints
upon their violence, what measure can be set
to their devastating force if these restraints are
reeklessly removed2 The annual floods in
| Southern Europe are serious enough, but they
offer no parallel to the seas of rain which VIII
gather and overflow the valleys from the i'm
mense watersheds of this continent.
| In commenting on the words of warning
| against forest destruction in President Ar
thurs last message TO Congress, THE TRIB-
UNE advised the appointment of COM
mission to Inquire among other things
whether it would be practicable for the
| General Government to buy back the Allegheny
region and hold 1t in permanent forest for the
protection of the Ohio Valley. 1t is plainly a
matter of national Importance that certain for
est reservations should be set apart in the Gov
erpment lands on the Rocky Mountains where
the Missouri. Columbia and other great rivers
take rise. And California is threatened with
desolstion SO long as the evergreen woods OF