The Ely miner., 1907-02-08
MMMM.

as the playground of nation. 1t is
said that $S,000,000 year is spent
by those seeking pleasure and health
in the White mountains. That there
is some danger of this revenue being
lost to the state is evident from the
fact that some frequenters of the re-
gion are turning elsewhere because of
the denudation and consequent loss
of one of the sources of the attractive
ness of the mountains.
1t is not as garniture that the for
ests of the northern summit of the
Appalachians are most valuable. They
have greater Importance as a con-
servator of energy Standing on hill
sides where the rainfall is copious,
forests serve to equalize the flow of
water after it has fallen. Their net
works of roots knit the soil together
and prevent the rainfall from rushing
Off in torrents, carrying the soil with
it and carving unsightly gorges in the
hillsides. After the removal of the
forests not only are the hillsides
scored, but the rivers which have
their rise in the mountains change
their character. Streams once slow
to anger and plenteous in mercy are
alternately either roaring torrents or
impotent rills. The debris from the
gullies is swept down to Become bars
and add to the list of the uncertain
ties of the rivers.
A bill is now before congress for
the establishment of a forest reserve
in the White mountains. This bill
has been passed by the senate and
reported favorably in the house. 1t
is proposed in the bill to spend 81, ,OOO,.
600 in the White mountains. Promi-
nent state officials, manufacturers and
others in all the New England states
have signed petitions asking their
representatives in congress to press
the matter before their interests are
further damaged.
The section which it is hoped
eventually to include in the govern
ment reserve will cover thu three
Notches, Pinkham, Crawford and
Franconia, taking in Spruce noun,
tain, Mount Wildcat, Carter Dome and
Mount Moriah on the east; Mounts
Madison, Adams and Jefferson, of the
Presidential Range, and Mount Hale,
North Twin mountain, the Haystack
and Mount Lafayette, of the Fran
coma mountains, on the north; Pro-
file mountain (noted for the giant hu.
man profile in rock projecting from it's
brow), Mount Kinsman and Mount
Pemigewasset on the west, and Mount
Hancock on the south. The border
line suggested would pass through
Jackson south of Gorham, cross the
railroad near the Lower Ammonoosuc
falls, include Bald mountain, but not
Franconia village; cross the Fran.
coma Notch just north of Lincoln and
run due east to the valley of the Saco.
That the forests of the White noun
tains can be preserved and at the
same time be made a source of in
come has been demonstrated by the
Appalachian club, which is endeayor-
ing by purchase and otherwise to
create a reserve in the White noun.
tains, and by the Breton Woods COM
pany, which for three years in the
winter time has carried on lumber
ing right under the windows of the
Hotel Mount Washington without
leaving scar on the face of the for
est. A paying crop of timber has
been cut, but the young growth has
been carefully saved and all fire risk
averted by burning the brush and
trash, fresh or old, and in ten years,
using the same carefully laid out log
roads, it is expected that the same
ground will yield anothei paying crap.