The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-06

1nc SCleuIllC DuIeduS Re0GIalY SQOUlQ
be under h department Of agricul-
ture. The president should have by
law the power OF transferring lands for
use as forest reserves to the department
Of agriculture. He already has such
power in the case Of ands needed by
the departments OF war and the navy.
The wise administration of the forest
| reserves will be not less helpful to the
| interests which depend on water than
to those which depend on wood and
grass. The water supply itself depends
upon the forest. In the arid region Ii
is water, not land, which measures pro-
duction. The western half of the Unit
1 ed States would sustain a population
| greater than that of our whole country
today IL the waters hat now run to
waste were saved and used for irriga-
ton. The forest n water problems
J are perhaps the most vital internal
, questions Of the United States.
Certain OF the forest reserves should
also be made preserves for the wild
forest creatures. All of the reserves
should be better protected from fires.
Many Of them need special protection
because of the great injury done by live
stock, above all by sheep. The increase
in deer. elk, and other animals in tine
Yellowstone park shows what may be
expected when other mountain forests
are properly protected by law and prop
erly guarded. Some of these areas
have been so denuded of surface vege-
tation by overgrazing that the ground
breeding birds, including grouse and
quail, and many mammals. including
deer, a been exterminated or driven
away. At the same time the water
storing capacity of the surface has been
decreased or destroyed, thus promoting
floods in time of rain and diminishing
the flow of streams between rains.
In cases where natural conditions
have been restored for a few years. veg
citation has again carpeted the ground,
birds and deer are coming back, and
hundreds of persons, especially from the
immediate neighborhood, come each
summer to enjoy the privilege of camp
ing. Some at least of the forest re-
serves should afford perpetual protec-
ton to the native fauna flora, safe
havens of refuge to odr rapidly dimin-
ishing wild animals of the larger kinds,
and free camping grounds for the ever
increasing numbers OF men and women
who have learned to find rest, health,
and recreation in the splendid forests
and flower-clad meadows of our noun
tains. The forest reserves should be
set apart forever for the use and EN-
eft of our people as a whole and not
sacrificed to the sh~ortsighted greed of
a few
The forests are natural reservoirs. By
restraining the streams in flood and re-
plenishing them in drought they make
possible the use of waters otherwise
wasted. They prevent the soil from
/, washing, and so protect the storage res
ervoirs from filling UP with silt. For
: est conservation is therefore an essen
tial condition of water conservation.
Government Aid for Irrigation of Arid
Il Lands
The forest alone cannot. however.
4 fnl1u rao111nfn nn6 nn1CQryva tho JUafarQ
of the arid region Great storage works
: are necessary to ~equaliZe the flow of
{ streams and to save the flood waters.
Their construction has been conclusive
) ly shown to be an undertaking too vast
{ for private effort. Nor can it be best
5 accomplished by the individual states
l acting alone. Far-reaching interstate
problems are involved; and the resour-
= ces Of single states would often be in
8 adequate. 1t is properly a national
function, at least in some Of it's fea-
2, lures. 1t is as right for the national
$ government to make the streams and
= rivers of the arid region useful by en-
t cheering works for water storage as
e to make useful the rivers and harbors
e of the humid region by engineering
l works of another kind. The storing of
g the floods in reservoirs at the head
= waters of our rivers is but an enlarge
= ment of our present policy of river
control, under which levees are built on
= the lower reaches of the same steams.
f The government should construct and
maintain these reserN oirs as it does
other public works. Where their pur-
poses is to regulate the flow of streams
the water should be turned freely into
the channels in the dry season to take
y the same course under the same laws
;; as the natural flow.
The reclamation of the unsettled arid
public lands presents a different prob
. / l0na Harn If jS not enough tn rp011lqt re
: the flow of streams. The object of the
i government is to dispose of the land
t to settlers who will build homes upon
e it. To accomplish this object water
|. must be brought within their reach.
The pioneer settlers on the arid pub.
y lie domain chose their homes along
II streams from which they could them
e selves divert the water to reclaim Their
holdings. Such opportunities are prac-
tically gone. There remain, however
g vast areas of public land which can be
made available for homestead settle
y ment, but only by reservoirs and main.
line canals impracticable for private
q enterprise. These irrigation works
5 should be built by the national govern
ment. The lands reclaimed by them
should be reserved by the government
for actual settlers, AMI the cost Of con
struction should SO far as possible be
= repaid by the land reclaimed. The dis
tribution Of the water. the division o.
the streams among irrigators, should bt
. left to the settlers themselves in con
formity with state laws and without
interference with these laws or with
vested rights. The policy of the ma.
tional government should be to aid ir
rigation in the several states and ter.
|. ritories in such ann as will enable
= the people in the local communities t.
help themselves. and as will stimulate
needed reforms in the state laws ant
regulations governing irrigation.
The reclamation and settlement o.
the arid lands will enrich every portion
of our country, just as the settlement
= of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys
brought prosperity to the Atlantic
, states. The increased demand fol
u manufactured articles will stimulate in.
L dustrial production, while wider home
markets and the trade of Asia will con.
= sumo the larger food supplies and effec'
tually prevent western competition witt
eastern agriculture. Indeed, the pro-
ducts of irrigation will be consumed