Excerpt from Message From the President of the United States: Transmitting a Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in Relation to the Forests, Rivers, and Mountains of the Southern Appalachian Region To the Senate and house of Representatives: I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of Agriculture, prepared in collaboration with the Department of the Interior, upon the forests, rivers, and mountains of the Southern Appalachian region, and upon its agricultural situation as affected by them. The report of the Secretary presents the final results of an investigation authorized by the last Congress. Its conclusions point unmistakably, in the judgment of the Secretary and in my own, to the creation of a national forest reserve in certain parts of the Southern States. The facts ascertained and here presented deserve the careful consideration of the Congress; they have already received the full attention of the scientist and the lumberman. They set forth an economic need of prime importance to the welfare of the South, and hence to that of the nation as a whole, and they point to the necessity of protecting through wise use a mountain region whose influence flows far beyond its borders with the waters of the rivers to which it gives rise. Among the elevations of the eastern half of the United States the Southern Appalachians are of paramount interest for geographic, hydrographic, and forest reasons, and, as a consequence, for economic reasons as well. These great mountains are old in the history of the continent which has grown up about them. The hard-wood forests were born on their slopes and have spread thence over the eastern half of the continent. More than once in the remote geologic past they have disappeared before the sea on the east, south, and west, and before the ice on the north; but here in this Southern Appalachian region they have lived on to the present day. Under the varying conditions of soil, elevation, and climate many of the Appalachian tree species have developed. Hence it is that in this region occur that marvelous variety and richness of plant growth which have led our ablest business men and scientists to ask for its preservation by the Government for the advancement of science and for the instruction and pleasure of the people of our own and of future generations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.