The record-union., 1899-07-03
FOREST DESTRUCTION.
WHAT TT THREATENS FOR OUR
WOODED SLOPES.

WHAT TT THREATENS FOR OUR
WOODED SLOPES.
The Warning Of the Experiences OF
Europe-ERect Of Stripping the
Mountains Of Vegetation.
The following paper is contributed to
the Sierra Club Bulletin for June. 1t
is by Marsden Manson, C. E., Phi. d.
It will be found to be of profound in
trest; to be clear, emphatic and pro-
phetic:
When man, actuated by greed or ig-
norance, or a combination of the two,
destroys the protection which nature
spreads over rolling and mountain
areas, he turns loose agencies which
soon pass beyond his control. The pro-
tecting agent is vegetation, and whe-
Their in the form Of forests, brush, or
forage plants and grasses, the balance
between it and denuding forces is easily
tipped, when the memorable law OF
gravity unchecked by myriad blades
of grass, by leaves, roots and vegetable
mold, gullies the hillside, strips the
mountain slope, converts the rivulet in
to the torrent, and causes the steady
flow of the river to become alterna-
lively a devastating flood or a parched
sand bed. When once this balance has
been. destroyed, man cannot turn back
the torrent and bid it flow once more a
living and life-giving stream.
1t would seem that this lesson had
been learned so thoroughly by the hui
man race that there would be little use
to lay its precepts before civilized
community. But when one goes out
over this fair land OF ours and marks
the rate at which it's forests are being
destroyed, it's mountain forage areas
devastated, he is tempted to regret thai
civilization should be permitted te
spread it's blight over the temple in
(which the savage worshiped.
But it must be remembered that this
destruction ceases in the judicious use
of this wealth of forest and of noun
tain pasture, and that it is only indif-
ference and incivism which permits
greed and ignorance to go unrestraineC
until they destroy the balance--that
man has it within his power to utilize
to it's fullest measure this wealth anG
to pass it down to future generations
as a blessing, rather than as a blight
and curse-and that he can even ai6
nature by extending vegetation ovel
barren areas. But this requires thai
the reckless destruction of forest, anG
the wasteful and continuous devasta-
ton of pasture should be replaced by
systematic utilization of these sources
of wealth
A FEW INSTANCES OF THE EFF.
FECTS OF DENUDATION.
In several ranges of mountains an6
over considerable portions of Cali
fornia the writer has had opportuni
ties to observe the effects of denuda-
ton.
Probably no range of mountains has
longer had civilized man around its
base than the great Caucasus and its
outliers. This range extends from the
Straits of Kertch to the Caspian Sea
a distance of over 80 miles. The cul-
minating peak, Mount Elbruz, rises
some 5000 feet higher than the high
est peaks in the United States, and the
group is analogous to but greater In
all respects than the Sierra Nevada
Its slopes drain either into the Caspian
Sea or into the Black Sea and the Sea
of Azov. The slope draining into the
Black Sea is subject to summer rains
and therefore more readily RECEIVERS
from denuding agencies. The southern
slope is broader and gentler than the
northern, which is subject to a driel
climate, and sparsely covered with
both deciduous and coniferous growths
AT all points where these mountains
We're observed man has wrought ruiz
since the dawn of history. Every
stream, every slope is marked with de-
struction. The great historic route uI
the Trek, through Darial Pass and
down the Outdoor and Arangua to the
Plains of Asia Minor, is everywhere
scanned with the ruin which the unre-
strained hand of man has put in force
In passing along the main drainage
lines, it is possible with a little expert.
ence to determine the comparative ex-
posture of the tributary watersheds by
the amounts of debris brought down
lAppended photographs show the gen.
eral appearance of the slopes and
streams, the measures taken to restrain
and divert the flow of debris from the
roads, and to provide crossings where
roads are buried and bridges swep;
out.] Nothing which man can call to
his aid can restore soil to these wasted
slopes. Such is the penalty of unre-
strained stripping of timber and for
age plants.
In parts of Europe the destruction
has been as great; the literature or
this subject is both voluminous an6
accessible. Enormous efforts have beer
put forth by the European Govern.
ments to check the destructive force OF
torrents born upon the denuded slopes
of the great chains of mountains
throughout the continent. In no in.
stance have these efforts been ade.
quate. although much has been accom-
plished. OF the deserts of Southern
France, S. Barring Gould writes tha
Zone hundred years has sufficed t.
sweep every particle of soil from the
Causes, which it took countless age.
to accumulate; and land that ono.
maintained a well-to-do population i:
reduced to DESERT Deserts G
Southern France. Vol /, p. 30
The plateau of Central Spain anc
the south slope of the Pyrenees affort
the best comparisons with our condi
tions in California-the climate anC
rainfall being in general analogous [,
ours, and the poverty and desert-lik.
conditions warn us as to our future
should our course of timber destcuc
ton and unrestrained pasturage con
tinue. The descendants of the shep
herds who devastated the fair land o