Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-05-13
FOREST PRESERVE.
An Open Letter to Governor AnseI
Showing Its Great Importance.

nor Martin F. Ansel, Columbia, S. c.:
MY Dear Goyernor-ln view of the
Congress OF Governors and other
prominent citizens from all over the
united States. which is to be held in
Washington, d. c., about the middle
or this month for the purpose Of con-
sidering and discussing the conser-
yation of our national resources, I
wish to emphasize to you Just one
point as regards the preservation OF
the Appalachian forests.
OF course, from an agricultural.
commercial, Industrial and aesthetic
point of view, We all sympathize with
the movement looking to the estab-
lishment, by the National Govern
ment, of the Appalachian and White
Mountain Forest Preserve. Expert
forestry authorities, of one accord,
tell us that If the present rate of for
est depletion is not checked the whole
| country will be face to face with a
timber famine within the next 20 to
20 years, and that as other disastrous
| results, the mountain sides, dcnuded
of their forests, will lose the recip,ent
| condition of their soil and thus allow
the heavy rainfall In those regions to
| be precipitated into the streams that
drain them, carrying silt, soil, sand
and debris, choking the channels
throughout their course to the seq.
causing the overflow of rich allu :'al
lands all along tina way. destroying
iitm'sinS cr. :. humr..rinx inland
navigation and supplying endless
work for the dreltors in our l,ar-
bors. The condition tiat wmld act
to increase the maximum flow of
streams to these disastrous proper
tions would also act to minimize
their minimum flow, and thus come
in for serious injury to water power
properties located along their course.
This conceive to be the most seri-
Gus phase Of the whole problem, If
not to the present generation, cer~
tainly to those that are to follow.
This brings me to the point which
| wish to emphasize, namely, That
our various forms of fuel do not ex-
ist I'm inexhaustibIe quantities, and.
I'm consequence, as source of power,
light and heat are destined to fail,
ana hydro.electricity, as is now be-
ing demonstrated throughout the in
dustrial world, will be required to
supply these needs. Hence, it would
be hard to overestimate the import
ance Of maintaining that condition
In the mountainous parts of our wa
tersheds which would operate to give
us tho most satisfactory results I'm
the matter Of conserving our water
supply.
For the last few years have spent
considerable time in the mountains
of North Carolina, South Carolina
and Georgia purposely to make in
jyestigations as to storage basins, and
found that, though such basins are
not numerous, nor yet very large,
still they exist in sufficient number
and size, think, to store all the
waste water that would gather dur
Ing the years of the greatest rainfall.
But, OF course, If these mountains
should be Geforested, and their sur
face exposed to consequent erosion,
1t would be useless TO think Of es-
tahlishing reservoirs, for they would
soon be filled with erosion from the
mountein-sides, and would thus cease
to serve the purpose for which they
were built.
| The value of these reservoirs as a
source Of added water supply, and
consequent added water-power, can
be best seen by taking proposition
located on one of the streams flow
ing through these mountains and
noting their effect upon 1t. Take,
then, for example, the first twenty
five miles Of the Chattooga river,
beginning at It's mouth--having $50
feet fall and minimum flow of $50
second feet Now, this portion of
this stream, IL developed on the basis
OF $50 second feet flow, would give
something like 10000 horsepower
for day running. But II the waste
water could be conserved and util-
lied. then the $50 second feet could
be increased to about $50 second
feet and the amount OF power deyel-
opable therefrpm 10000 instead OF
$4,000 horsepower. And then, too,
this water, when used through this
development, would how on down,
effecting In similar manner any other
daYal0nn that fninlf he 1<aaIa.a