A #aper #resented at dhe2d Annual Conven-tion of tAeAmerican Institnte of Elec/ricalEngineers, Asheville, N. C., June 19-23, 1905.

Copyright 1905. By A. 1. E. E.

THE PRESERVATION OF THE SOUTHERN APPALA-CHIAN STREAMS. A FOREST PROBLEM.

BY CHARLES EDWARD WADDELL.

To the south of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, andoccupying portions of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia,lies the high plateau commonly known as the Southern Ap-palachians. This plateau attains its greatest width, a distanceof some 70 miles, in North Carolina, and has an average elevationof about 3 000 ft. It includes 275 peaks that exceed 5 000 ft.in height, and 36 summits of over 6 000 ft., among themMount Mitchell, which is the highest point east of the Rockies,and the oldest land on the continent.The eastern and western boundaries of the plateau are,

respectively, the Blue Ridge and the Unakas. The slopeof the Blue Ridge toward the Atlantic is gradual, and formsthe rich agricultural Piedmont section. The Unakas, on theother hand, are higher and more rugged, and are cut into numer-ous deep gorges through which flows the rivers; it is a peculiar-ity of this region that all the streams, those flowing both eastand west, take their rise on the slopes of the Blue Ridge.

Lying between the Blue Ridge and the Unakas are numerous,cross-ridges, the general direction of which is northwest, andwhich divide the plateau into a number of valleys, and directthe course of the rivers.

This vast platean constitutes the apex of the drainage areaand serves as a source for magnificent rivers flowing to thefour points of the compass. The largest and most importantof these rivers are the New, which eventually becomes the Kan-awha, the Yadkin, Catawba, Saluda, Broad, Toxaway, Tallu-lah, Chattahoochee, Pigeon, Watauga, Hiwassee, Little Ten-

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890 I1"'.ADDKLILL: A1 FORKE 7T PROBLEM. [Ju!,e 23

nessec, French Broad, Nolichucky, and Holston- having acombined drainage area of over 7S000 square miles. Themajority of these rivers flow through excellent agriculturallands and possess fine water-powers; in fact all large water-power developments in the South to-day are located on streamsrising in the Appalachians. Therefore, any influence thataffects thesc rivers is far-reaching in its consequences and isof vital importance. The value of a river as a water-powerdepends upon its uniformity of flow rather than upon itsquantity; regularity of flow is influenced by erosion of the hill-sides, and floods.,The rainfall in western North Carolina is heavy, approxi-

mating in some localities to 70 in. per annum. On steepslopes where the land has been .cleared one violent precipita-tion could do more damage than would be caused in years ifthe same land were covered with forests.To illustrate the serious nature of erosion the following data

were collected. Beaverdam Creek is a small tributary of theFrench Broad River, and previous to the impounding of waterby the dam of the Weaver Power Company it flowed intothe French Broad through rocky banks a few hundred yardsabove the dam. The creek drains an area of some 14 sq. miles,all cleared land, and flows tlhrough gently undulating valleys.It is a representative but conservative type of mountain stream.The dam was completed just a Eyear ago, and of coursecreated a body of still water at the mouth of the creek. Therun-off for the year, calculated from the recorded rainfall, andfrom averages of other measured streams, was 46 000 000 cu. ft.;by actual measurement the amount of sediment depositedwas 12 000 cu. yd. It must be borne in mind that last yearwas exceptionally deficient in rainfall. In time of floodserosion is at its worst; then mountain torrents eat away theirchannels, and carrying down stones and otlher debris and de-positing them on some rich agricultural land or in the pondof some developed water-power. Hence it is all importantto prevent rather than to direct these floods. It is estimatedthat in 1901 the loss on the Catawba alone amounted to nearly$1 500 000. Property 200 miles from the mountains wasdamaged. The total loss for the year on all streams exceeded$10 000 000.The government gauging stations report an increasing irregu-

laritv in the streams of the Southern Appalachians, and investi-

1903.] I'VADDELL: A FOREST PvROBL1I§M. 891

gation as to the cause leads to the conviction that it is onaccount of the removal of -the forests. Originally these moun-tains were covered to their summits with forests, but in tlhelast few decades the lumbermen have made ruthless inroadswith deleteriovs consequences. It is especiallyr noticeablethat some of the s,naller streams, whose hcadwaters have beendenuded, at certain seasons dry up altogether.

Expericnce in this locality together with that obtainedelsewl-here, notably the German and Frcnch Experiment Sta-tions, indicates that the forests exert a potent and direct in-fluence on strea-M flow; to form a clear conception of thenature of this influence it is necessary to consider the manner inwhiclh strcams are formed and the methods bv wlhiclh theyderive their supply. It must be noted that surface run-off isthe cause of rapid fluctuations, while the perennial springsand underground drainage furnishi the permanent supplytherefore, regularity of flow is secured if the run-off is divertedinito storage. This is the part the forest performs. its fac-tors of conservation are lower temperature, shade, capacity ofthe humus, and the retarding of evaporation by protectionfrom strong air currents. Benefit is alsc (lerived from themechanical action of the trees in breaking the fall of the raindrops, therebv protecting the soil, and to the obstructionoffered by the roots to the rapid run-off of the precipitation.The roots further assist by, increasing percolation througlh

keeping the ground open and porous. The forest cover )ro-tects snowfall from rapid melting, and the snow in turn pro-tects the earth from freezing, thereby keeping it open andsusceptible to filtration when the snow does melt. Evaporai-tion is much more rapid from bare tracts than from woode(dareas; this is especially true of the mountains as the greaterthe altitude the greater the effect in preventing evaporation.The stream )reservation of the Southern A,ppalachian de-

pends solely on the forcsts; in this respect it differs from NewEngland, whlere glacial deposits and the lakes co&pera'tewith the streams. Unfortunately in the south both the depositsand the lakes are lacking. The expedient of planting grassesthat have been found to flourish in New England, an(1 to pro-tect the soil subsequent to the removal of forests, is not success-ful in the South, due doubtless to. the greater heat and conse-quent parcling effect.

Consideration of the foregoing beneficial action of the forests

'892 WADDELL: A FOREST PROBLEM. [June 23

convinces one that the woods at the headwaters of the streamsshould never be removed. Valleys alone are suited to agri-cult-are. Cleared mountain sides yield at most four or fivecrops, then the land becomes so impoverished that it is value-less. Nor should the lumber industries be permitted to destroyall standing timber. Protection of the forests does not implythat lumber is not to be cut; on the contrary it is beneficial tothe forests to remove lumber, but it should be removed in anintelligent manner, in a way that will protect young trees.The present wholesale methods of removing forests should bestopped.Next to the lumbermen the greatest enemy of the forests

is the fires. These are especially bad on the southern exposures,due to the greater dryness, and they work the dual harm ofdarrLaging the standing timber and killing the seedlings.

In 1892 the first practical forestry in the United Stateswas started on the Biltmore Estate. The methods in vogueconsist of mapping the tracts of timbered lands, making accuratesurveys of the extent and character of the forests, notingtrees that have reached maturity, and reforesting bare tracts.Conservative methods of lumbering are pursued, the treesbeing so removed as not to destroy the younger growths, andplantings of seedlings taking the place of matured trees.On steep declivities where the forests have been previously

removed, and where erosion has ensued, the hills are first stakedin belts at regular intervals of some fouir feet, and artificialobstructions such as rhododendron and kalmia roots are intro-duced which result in the formation of new soil. After suffi-cient time has elapsed to insure permanency and desired"rich-ness, the hillsides are planted with very small trees of a kindespecially adapted to the locality. The results of these methodsare to-day apparent in the condition of the brooks and streams.

The deposit of sediment is materially less than on the streams,not so protected, and the streams are not so turbid subsequentto heavy rains.The French Broad river with its tributaries above Ashe-

ville drains the Biltmore Estate, and the fact that statisticsshow the French Broad to vary less than any other streamin the South Atlantic States may be attributed to the protectionthe river receives in the manner just outlined.