Show IRRIGATION AND V THE ARID LANDS ANS LANDSI d I Subjects Discussed By American Forestry Association TALK FO FOREST RESERVES C BEAD BY PROMINENT MEN OP OF T I Denver Cola Colo Aug SS HAt ZAt At sessions s of ot the American Forestry as a number of papers were worn read r d dand and discussed The of Colorado was the subject of a paper by A L 1 Fellows of Denver DenTer He Re said that the work of ef the division had bad dem dent demonstrated demonstrated that the flow of or tIM the streams of O the arid region taking the year through would furnish more than enough water for tor practical use 1188 A paper i by F H Newell Ne hy by of the geological survey explained the benefits to the water sup aup supply supply ply of the forest reserves reserve He said aid Full development of ot the resources of o the United States especially the arid V west rests re ts upon a complete utilization of the water ater for irrigation power and I municipal as well as domestic supply I The conservation of the waters and aad the I protection from pollution both natural and artificial rests largely upon the proper treatment of ot the forests fere u at the headwaters of the streams There can I be no question as a to the in influence influence fluence of these the e forests fores although the extent of this influence may maYbe be and an d still stilt is open to investigation and dl discussion I The forests with the accumulation of vegetation upon upen the ground serve to break the force torce of ot the rain and regulate the run of it excessive soil erosion Is ie Isto Isto to a large extent prevented and Rd the waters watern drained from the forests fore are as ii rule free from suspended lIU mineral matter V The government has bas set ret t about the protection of ot the forests tore upon the head headwater headwater headwater water streams of the west and con eon congress gress gross has under consideration leg legisla legislation tion tending to promote the construe construction V tion of large reservoirs re within with or ad adjacent adjacent adjacent jacent to tb the forest reserves There are areto areto areto to be bc found upon the headwaters of the streams many valleys valley whose outlets can be closed by a dam dane of moderate me height holding back the water wat from melting snow or from occasional O nal streams Natural Reservoir Sites These natural reservoir re sites Bites are ar be being beIng beIng ing surveyed anti anu an their capacity and I dOst cost ascertained The amount of water available by storage is also alse being mess meas measured as asand and facts recorded so as to make it possible to know definitely th the beB fits to be derived from the construction of these hydraulic works One of the sources of anxiety and uncertainty In regard to these reser reservoirs reservoirs is the matter of silt or sediment t The flood waters roll along sand gravel graveland graveland and even boulders depositing them wherever the current is checked These Theas floods entering the artificial reservoirs are brought to a halt and quickly lay Jay down their load forming a coating or layer of mud in the reservoir tending t ft diminish the sto Jre I I l 1 I If tE the water comes from forest I I slopes where the soil is protected and I held hald by roots the amount of sediment Imay may be negligible but if It l on the other I hand thOse these th st forests are cut aw e underbrush and humus burned tire eke driving storms soon attack and aDel move I I the loose oarth earth and disintegrated rock I starting it on its lt Journey down the I slopes to be finally caught in the reser reservoir reservoir reservoir voir below beloy mug it happens that it is of first Importance Imp fo to f the prolonged life of the reservoir that every care ears I should be taken to perpetuate the for forest forest est eat cover upon up n the area i wherever this can assist a in holding g the soIL roiL Professor R B H Forbes of Tucson i Ariz Arts read a paper on The rite Open Range 1 I and the Irrigation Fanner in which he related some scene of the bad effects upon f the cattle and agricultural Industries of overstocking the ranges and suggested I II remedial legislation I I Reclamation of Lands I A paper on The Reclamation of the Arid Region was read by R L Fulton of Reno Nev Nov In the course coUMe of his remarks Mr Fulton said that too many people Imagine that the reclamation of the arid portions of the Union would add to the th burdens of the agricultural class in the older states by increasing production without a proportionate ad addition addition addition to consumption This he be held hekl to tobe tobe tobe be a fallacy The reclamation of the arid states I Mr Fulton said would create the larg largest largest est markets for the products of the factory and the forest the shop and aAd the warehouse of ot New England and the middle states that c be developed d dIn in the world If foreign trade is worth working for surely domestic trade is twice or thrice as valuable for by it we keep at home bome the benefits that ac accrue accrue accrue crue both In buying and in Ia selling In m I making and in using S J Holsinger of Phoenix Arts die dis discussed cussed the subject The Boundary Line Between the Forest and the Desert Mr Holsinger explained the relation of forests to the deserts of the southwest particularly the dwarfed forest growth Including the shrubbery of canyons canons foothills and streams as a conservator con of moisture a barrier to erosion lon ero na natures natures tures safeguard sat ard for natural reservoirs which feed springs and retain normal conditions of moisture in valleys vaHey and andas andas andas as an element to a system of artificial water storage for the reclamation of drain land The general question of the preservation preservation tion and reproduction of ot the fore c ts ls gaining a prominent place in public In Interest interest Interest terest but the functions of the brush land the scrub oak cedar mesquite and chapparal are not net so 80 generally realized These Th e are as a important in their field as the forests which yield commercial timber The forest cover of the high mountains conserves moisture and resists erosion On the shrubbery of the foothills and valleys fastens Use ties silt and debris which escape the grasp grup of ot the spruce and the pine Irrigation and Forests The paper of George H Maxwell of Chicago was entitled Irrigation and 1 the Forests Mr Maxwell sounded a a note of warning condemning as fa Ia fatally tally criminallY and wickedly blind the Indifference with which we were watching the gradual destruction of our Ur forests In picturing graphically the results of deforestation in the east Mr r said Famine stalks India stews be on because be cause of deforestation floods devastate China for the same reason Look at northern Africa at Persia at Mesopotamia Mesopotamia tamia at pt and heed he their theft warning once fertile and fruitful now n w arid uninhabitable wastes wa they stand as a g that we aeed ke d WiH we do se so or will we ww go o 0 0 wasting millions while we watch wat it our forest fere t tareas areas gradually destroyed Mr Maxwell made a strong plea for forthe forthe forthe the appropriation of or adequate motleYs moneys to te establish h a thoroughly competent patrol for fer the protection of the forests f ts re against fires Concluding his remarks hr Ii h said saidI I was asked to speak 8 ak of ot irrigation and the forest fore t I have hae done so al at although although though I have not mentioned the word Irrigation The forests are art the source of ot all alt irrigation We e cannot canno irrigate without water We cannot have water without forests If we WI do dc not preserve them we will have no irrigation T P Lukins of Pasadena Cal read I an interesting sting paper on The Refer tion of the Watersheds The Th Underflow of Water In Southern California was the subject of ot a paper I by br b William Willism H Knight of Los Angeles Save the Resources Gifford Clifford Pinchot forester of the United States department of I ture tre gave an illustrated lecture on The Government and the Forest Re R serves serve tonight He said in part I When the policy of creating gov cov forest foret reserves re first ANit took cite efte 4 s it was widely misunderstood Protests against it filled the press pre and MI I tion thin was widespread among the people There followed an active cUve discussion then an awakening to the advantages I of the reserves reserve and general cence Within the last year or 01 two this general consent has been changed throughout t rough ut the west to active defense of ot the reserves and over large areas area to active popular demand for tor their pro and extension It has been found by practical work that alt all classes of the community are by the reserves re the mate sate lumberman to is protected against the competition of the man maR who pays nothing n for his timber and Ie is assured 8 protection in the enjoyment of the stumpage he has purchased from the government the miner is assured aured a of ot the conservative use of or the timber upon which so 50 much of his hla prosperity pro depends and protected against t its Ita waste vaste by fire lire and reckless cutting HIt It must not be forgotten fOI otten that the mineral laws apply within the reserves as they do without them The cattle man and sheep man under a permit I system widely applied enjoy govern ment protection in the use UN of ot the pub I lie lic grazing lands and are protected against the destructive and often bloody blood competition which has hitherto afflicted them The farmer and above all aU the irrigation farmer is assured free or cheap of or timber Umber from the Ute reserves and the protection of the streams upon which his whole prosper pro per Sty ity It depends The cities are secured in the enjoyment of their water supplies and in a word every legitimate busS busi ness neN Interest of the community finds itself If better off for an intelligently ad I ministered system of forest reserves re Mistakes M takes In the administration of the reserves re erves are Temporary while the ene I fits they thoy confer will vIII be permanent Throughout the west public senti 1 I I ment mont is I demanding the extension of forest reserves In almost every locality where irrigation Is practiced I a a |