White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1935-07-25
EROSION

Chief catastrophes in the United States this
year have been the foods which have washed away
life and property throughout nearly every section
of the country. In Colorado, Nebraska and other
states of the west and midwest, rampaging rivers
have destroyed valuable property and brought
death to many people. New York and Pennsyl-
vania and other eastern states have suffered great
loss from floods
Seriousness of these floods has been overshad-
owed by the recent floods in China, which have
swept away homes and cities over large areas and
killed many thousand people, and yet there is
strong parallel between the events
At time, China was a prosperous nation
Fertile lands were everywhere and crop yields
abundant Today, most of that fertile land
has been washed away and the country must look
to other nations for agricultural and financial sup
port.
Her rivers constantly carrying away the
soil, and from ships hundred miles at sea can be
seen the yellow waters which have destroyed the
farm lands OF the interior
Centuries ago, China began to dyke her rivers
in order to save the fertile farm lands, but the
damage had been DONE Periodically, these dykes
are broken, causing heavy loss of life and pro-
perty, and each heavy rain brings another deluge.
America has passed through golden era of
agriculture. There was plenty of land, and
section was over-cropped and became unproduc-
tive, it was only necessary for the owner to
on to another district, and the process continued
until we have destroyed 81 million acres Of good
farm lands and, according to the Soil Conserva-
ton service, are in the process of destroying 200
million acres more.
While that land was being farmed the country
did not have it's disastrous foods nor it's scorch-
ing droughts which, while having opposite effects,
result from the same causes.
When floods first became menace the coun-
try began to dyke the Mississippi river but now,
after two billion dollars have been spent on this
work. we begin to realize that the dyking of rivers
will not prevent floods, that to eliminate these
menaces we must remove the causes through con-
servation of farm lands and protection of the wa
tersheds.
Here in the Columbia river territory we have
not been faced with danger of foods nor have we
considered erosion serious problem. We do
not have the torrential downpours as do other
sections and the development of orchards has pre-
vented wind erosion But flood control and erosion
control will in time become a serious problem,
even here.
The solution of this problem is to conserve and
not destroy Timber on the watersheds of our riv-
must be protected. Reforestaton must be u1l-
dertaken in certain areas and cutting of timber
undertaken in manner which will protect the
runoff on these watersheds. Farm land under Gull
tvation must be protected from wind and water
erosion.
Other nations, such as Italy, France and Ger
many are attacking the problem of food control
by making erosion control a compulsory feature of
land contracts. Will this nation profit by the ex-
ample of others and adopt soil conservation poll
cies before it is too late, or will the Columbia,
Mississippi and other large rivers Of the nation be-
come silt-laden pathways of destruction like the
Yellow river of China?
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