New-York tribune., 1902-06-08
FOREST PRESERVATION.
SENATOR DEPEw MAKES A STRONG Ar
GUMENT FOR THE PROPOSED
APPALACHIAN PARK
tBr TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.l

e-xrreut ,n advocacy OF the Appalachian Park
project A bill has been reported to the senate py
ss7e Committee Forest Reserves ana the fre-
tecfon OF Game, which proposes to eNpeno s4Vo0VVo
IN the creation OF national forest park TO embrace
about two million Of forest lands IN the states
OF North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala
banaa Tennessee and Virginia This great Ap-
paiachian reserve is TO be maintained ana ADMIN
istsred by the federal government in order to guard
the sources the thousands Of watercourses which
find their way from its plateaus 10 the Atlantic or
60 the Gulf OF Mexico, and thus protect the vast
area of agricultural lands which these rivers en-
rich and fertilize. AS member Of the Committee
on Forest Reservations the junior Senator from
New-York has given much careful study to the
forestry problem, and his appeal TO the Senate to
undertake this benedcent and national Work was
supported by many illustrations Of the injuries
suffered IN older countries from wasteful ana
short sighted denudaton of forest areas
1t is said by the committee reporting the
bill that at may fairly be urged that the
establishment OF this forest reserve in the re-
s1on OF the South Appalachian Mountains is a
matter of great national importance, ana that'
owing to the peculiar conditions existing in TINS
region, the establishment of this reserve need not
necessarily be accepted as precedent for the es-
Establishment OF similar reserves elsewhere in the
East"
MIR. Depew spoke in part as follows:
Mature has been prodgal in her gifts of forests
Of their preserxati5n has been negeeaeo @ 700 t' T
.iearlngs and home have been indiscriminate and
wastefai in the extrc me. The settlers are not 10
blame. are the lumbermen The desrncton f1IG lon
which has been going with such frightfuiiy o IN
creasing rapidty during the last fifty years is que que
20 q lack Of that governmental supervision IN tIe
interest of the whole people which can only come
1Te sbs fo reaz @ a oee upon his purchase and
rule vast fortunes are mace IN deIoEeshs th e
worry and this magnifcent Inheritance is being
sausnasred with q rapidity which is full Of peril
Tor the future.
Intelligent conservation of the forests of coun-
sry is the highest evidence of its elViizaton. Inc
sliInate the soil the Proauc{ye % e Gd iSe ~ benef
Scent flow Of the streams are al depeluelt upon
sIreaSy in the West forty-one national forest re
xerres-aboUt fortysix million acres one OF , theIn
is already paying expenses and yielding a sI4shI
While 4s0eaeo8 acres of land have been rescued
90 the west there has been nothing done in the
l1ast- The country had superb property u%nlque %
in every way. unequa!led for rlchness ana S [ailo
and for the value OF It's proquct IN me TeuMoop I
forests OF The PelG SOP Pc M 6a 1epTesenta
lions Of the specuator, VINO. under that homestead
3csn, secured the enactment Of laws by which any
settler could secure $50 acres IN these t9refs @ t Sl
turnbernen Each CT their employees staked out
off their lumber were induced make claims for
their 100 acres each and the land Was then the trans e
song, this magnieent n1eritace 0d me Pe9Pl9 bo
are mercilessly destroying the timber
Negligence Of this kind OF the part OF CongFess ss
anS bogus settlers but for the whole people OF the
coHnfry 'TbeT would under scientihce forest
: management. have beer for all time to come not
SS only self-supporting ard revenue pTolOelng Inty
III would have been more-theg RoIIa nave pesI zen E te
Of SUPPLIES } & OF Psec Pogg f0C coa M ey Would
have been additions to the rural scenery. Which when
culture and civilization. They would nave been
the home OF game wneTe sP0'sen d Goun 4b IsS
will become an arid waste, the streams will dry
best ~ip possessions but there will be inflicted in
calculable damage upon gasf region mi %hoe I anny
homes and cultivated farms
THE PROPOSED APPALACHIAN PARK
The Appalachian forest preserve as proposed in
the pending measure is about $50 miles in & length @
and OF varying breadth 1t is from goo to COZ feet
above the sea. 1t through the States Of Nir-
Georgia Alabama ard Tennessee The slopes Of
these mountains are very steep. varying from N
which flow from the perpetual streams, fed by the
n5 spng m 4 r9P oqeT on t the t6e Sge a S Of 5 M
The streams from this mountain forest are the
the Roanoke. the Catawba. the Savannah; the
New tkaaWhae me tennessee the h Pbench foou; me
Broad, the Hiwassee he Nolichueky the Pigeon
hs "a regon e aeg5eg @ 9y t fee tsnti sde and more
richest agricultural country in the United states
the largest body Of hardwood the. North Amer
3can Continent 1t is museum OF forest grown a
embracing account of its location, the WOODS
which can be grown in temperate. serni-tropeal and
bs fsget one of the most Interesting in the
world The deep soil has been forming for
tree roots and hunus of grass and leaves, there
sortion. retention ana disTibution of the rain
fan
any other part Of the United States except the
North Pacihc Coast 1t ranges from % 70 leu
3henes inc es year ye was 30 inches Where the forests
are intact The water finds its way through this
thick and porous soil goes into the ereGeS OF g .g
IiVulets Nature. always benehcent IN her opeId-
tion, arranges this vast collection OF the rainy
season that during the rest of the year II h9Ws
ous naturally and equally through the , rlyuIets ,
into the streams and through the streams INTO Ihe
rivers and waters and fertilizes half dozen
The result Of an attack upon this fortress ere
atea hy nature for the protection and enrichment
of the people is more disastrous than te STe 0i
ulated and fertile country. They Kill, they carry
on on - ,be e1ITpiyors return to their homes and
sn a few years every vestige Of the ruin has dis
appeared In its place ihe5e are ag1lI FAN Cues crleS w a
ieets a tract Of hardwood forests upon the Ap-
Zig and little surrender the axe and the saw
Then the soil is sold TO the farmer; VINO mas
:ibout three years he gathers a remunerative and
satisfactory harvest but he sees as the enormous
At the end of three years he can no longer plant
crops. but for two years more II lucky ne may ne m
the rains and floods have washed clean the noun
tain sides. have left nothing but the bare rocks
ruin which can never be repaired ~ a
with the torrents which have been formed by the
streams below. II has caused them to spread over
the farms Of the valleys and plateaus: It has
turned these peaceful waters into roaring noods
through fertile fields across grassy plains One
fresheS in the Catawba River iast sprlhg, occa-
eNept away 81 800 900 worth OF farms, buildings and
stock. The damage done by the freshet OF last
- <En