and render it incapable of developing a heavy leaf mulch. For this reason the forest generally over the mountain section of the basin can not be given a 100 per cent rating as a protective cover. continued fire protection and proper management of the existing stands, however, the density of the forest and the depth of the leaf mulch may be greatly increased.

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Where farm woods lie adjacent to the fenced pastures, the common practice has been to include them in the pasture. The trampling of the cattle tends to pack the soil, while browsing opens the under 5 feet of woods within reach of the cattle, allowing wind to blow through and remove much of the leaf litter. Farm wood lots are typically open, often grass covered, and have little more value than pasture lands for the retention of water. With proper care and the prevention of overgrazing, pastures can probably be made perma

nent and a good sod maintained. On the steeper slopes pasture lands have a firm, packed soil, due to the tramping of the stock, and are not capable of quickly absorbing a heavy rainfall, even though the sod does prevent serious erosion. On steep hillsides where soils are coarse and sandy and lacking in lime a sod cover can be maintained only with difficulty, and erosion will ultimately take place.

Plowed lands are usually bare of cover in the fall and early spring at the time of the greatest rainfall in this basin. Such fields quickly establish water courses, and if the soils are easily eroded very soon develop gullies.

It becomes very obvious that the mountain and hill lands of the Ohio Valley must be retained either in forest or pasture-grass sod if erosion is to be prevented. If steep lands are cultivated, resort must be made to some practice of terracino or contour cultivation.

CRITICAL FOREST AREAS

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS

The Appalachian Mountain region is located in the drainages of the Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, French Broad, Holston, Kanawha, and Little Rivers. Steep topography, heavy rainfall, and erodible soils all make this a region of excessive run-off. A comparatively small portion of it is cultivated or is suitable for cultivation. Farm lands are being abandoned and many that are now in cultivation are washing severely. The need for protective covering in the higher mountains of this region has long been recognized. In order to prevent the silting of streams, which are considered navigable in their lower reaches, and additional reason for further protection by forests now exists in the increasing development of water storage, both

for city supplies and power purposes. The most careful treatment of land in this entire region is necessary if the rapid silting of reservoirs is to be prevented.

The reason for rapid erosion in this mountain district wherever land is exposed lies in its deeply weathered clayey soils heavily charged with mica, in the steepness of topography, the excessively heavy rains, and the fact that this section is not protected either by continuous freezing of ground during the winter or by snow cover. It is, therefore, subject to erosion practically throughout the winter, when there is the smallest amount of vegetative cover.

Recommendations.-Areas have already been set aside by the National Government within which purchases of forest land have been made. Large tracts have been organized into national forests. Such areas cover the higher and steeper mountain lands. The

recently designated areas included within the purchase unit for the Smoky Mountain National Park occupy the last extensive area of mountain land not previously designated as a purchase unit. In addition, however, there are many low lying ranges and hill farms now covered with forest because they are unsuited to other agricultural use. These lie outside the purchase units already designated, especially along the Blue Ridge southwestward from the junction with the Black Mountains, and along the Newfoundland and several other low ranges. It is recommended that this mountain land be put under organization as soon as possible to maintain an effective forest cover. This can be accomplished by (1) continuation of purchase of forest land within the purchase units already recognized by the Federal Government; (2) organization of land within the Smoky Mountain Park unit either for park or forest purposes; (3) purchase of land not otherwise organized, for State, county, or municipal forests (an instance of the latter already exists in the ownership of forest land by the city of Asheville for the protection of its municipal watershed); (4) a campaign of education supported by adequate development of timber marketing which will encourage private owners to protect and improve their woodlands.

The first step in the improvement of all this land is protection from fire; the second, the removal of cull material from the land to allow the young growth to increase the density of the existing stands. In case planting is undertaken, conifers should be given preference wherever they can be used, because of the better soil covering they afford.

Special mention should be made of the area on the Ocoee River about Ducktown, Tenn. In this section an area about 10 miles across has been entirely denuded by gases from copper smelting. In this instance erosion has already severely gullied the denuded area, and while some progress is being made in the reestablishment of vegetation by the removal of the cause of denudation, the reestablishment of a forest cover will be very slow because of the severity of erosion and the lack of seed trees. This is a specific instance in which planting is called for. The damage is made more serious by the existence of power dams on the streams below.

APPALACHIAN VALLEY

Within the Appalachian Valley is a series of high parallel ridges similar in structure to the plateau to the west of them. Some of them have sandstone caps but more often they are of shale and limestone structure. Because of their rugged topography and thin soils, they are unsuited to cultivation and are largely covered with timber. These ridges have been severely cut over, frequently burned, and generally heavily grazed. In no instance is the forest condition on these ridges as good as it can be made through fire protection and proper cutting practice. Outside of the regular county fire organization under the direction of State governments of Virginia and Tennesseee, no effort is being made to improve the condition of these ridges.

Adjoining the ridge lands are steep farm lands which have been cleared on shale and limestone soils. In some instances these have been abandoned and are seriously gullying.

Recommendations.-Forest cover should be restored on the ridges and badly gullied abandoned farm lands of the Appalachian Valley. In the case of the forest lands which have not been cultivated, this will occur naturally if protection from fire and grazing is given. Some of the farm lands will reseed naturally to stands of pine. Others on which gullying is already serious must be planted with trees. Forest planting is the best method of permanently correcting this gullied condition.

APPALACHIAN PLATEAU

The Appalachian Plateau includes all of the plateau region from Alabama to southwestern New York, starting as an abrupt escarpment or a series of folded ridges west of the Appalachian Valley and sloping westward to Ohio and the highland rim of Tennessee and Kentucky. This contains about 64,000 square miles, or nearly one-third of the area of the Ohio Basin. The western part of this plateau has a large proportion of agricultural land, but the eastern part is suited primarily for timber production.

This region includes a portion of the Allegheny, Monongahela, Little Kanawha, Kanawha, Cuyandot, Big Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, Cumberland, and the Tennessee watersheds. All but the Kanawha and Tennessee rise in the plateau. A rather abrupt escarpment marks its edge across Tennessee and Kentucky with a more gradual change in topography through the Allegheny portion. The plateau is already partially forested, but cutting and fire have reduced the effectiveness of the forest cover. Some of the cleared farm lands have been seriously eroded and subsequently abandoned. Most of these old fields are capable of reestablishing a forest cover. Recommendations.-Within the plateau area, national forests have been established in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern West Virginia, and several areas of State forests have been set aside. The forest organizations thus far established by Federal and State Governments cover only a small part of the plateau region and are entirely inadequate to preserve the forest cover in good condition. This great area has long been in need of the development of extensive publicly owned forests, both as demonstrations of the possibilities of benefit to be derived from proper forest management and as centers around which private owners can organize private property for protection from fire. Corporations holding large tracts of land for their mineral values can very well afford to utilize the surface for timber production. This should be encouraged by Government action to assist them in their organization work and relieve them from unfair tax burden.

KNOBS REGION OF KENTUCKY

An area of rough land located in parts of the Licking, Salt, Kentucky, and Green River watersheds, comprising about 2,218 square miles in area, is known as the Knobs region of Kentucky. In this belt, which is formed by irregular erosion of lower Mississippian rocks and the underlying shales, hills and ridges bearing thin soils. have been left in a horseshoe formation bordering the blue-grass region. They now have a cover of scattered, poorly developed, and partially destroyed forests. Cutting, grazing, and fire have all assisted in creating this condition.

Recommendations.-These areas are too irregular in shape and too isolated to allow organization on a large scale. Some of them, however, are large enough to form into county or municipal forests. The State also may be able to establish in the region some small demonstration forests. The tendency in this region is rather to abandon farm lands than to clear more; and since the forest in its present condition is not adequate to conserve rainfall or to prevent erosion on recently burned areas, some steps should be taken to organize further demonstration areas. Planting may be required to reestablish the forests in many places.

WESTERN COAL FIELDS OF KENTUCKY

The western coal fields of Kentucky is an area of rough topography similar in geographic structure to the Appalachian Plateau except that it has not been elevated to such a height. A portion of it is covered with alluvial silt and it has a comparatively high percentage of river-bottom swamp land. This area, which has poor, sandy soil on the highlands and which is primarily valuable at this time for coal production, should be from 15 to 25 per cent in timber. The eastern end is best suited for forest areas.

HIGHLAND RIM

The highland rim in Tennessee is an elevated and much dissected plateau containing three to four million acres. The rougher portions are separated by the limestone lands of central Tennessee. The eastern section lies between the Cumberland Plateau on the east and the central basin. It extends from Overtown County south to Franklin County along the western edge of the plateau proper. The western section lies west of the central basin chiefly in Wayne, Lawrence, Perry, and Lewis Counties. Because of the rugged character of this land and its liability to erosion when cleared, it has been retained quite largely in forests.

Recommendations.-The areas of contiguous forests are not large enough in this region to justify the extensive organization of forest property, but suitable tracts can be secured to serve as small State or demonstration forests.

Areas should be selected for State-owned demonstration forests and county and municipal forests should be developed in so far as is feasible. The entire area should be brought under a central State fire organization which would protect both public and privatelyowned forest lands. Where gullying has occurred, private owners should be encouraged to secure such land against further erosion by planting. The best means for doing this is extension work supported by a liberal system of tree distribution.

THE PLATEAU OF WESTERN TENNESSEE

West of the Tennessee River on a range of high land parallelling the course of the river lies an area very much subject to erosion. This condition results from a high precipitation, a soil of silt origin, and the fact that a large proportion of the area has been cleared

35085-H. Doc. 573, 70-2-10