Floods and Forests

By J. A.Weller, Research Department, W. U. Ritter Lumber Company, Columbus, Ohio

With the mad rvaters of the Mississippi still sweeping their devastating rvay through the valleys of the south the subject of what.causes great floods is one of paramount ininterest.

There exists a popular conviction that there is an intimate connection betlveen deforestation and the great floods which every now and then bring disaster to the nation. This results from the fact that forests, by storing the rvaters from rain and melting snow in the bed of humus that develops under forest cover, form natural reservoirs and prevent the rapid rush of water to the streams; and, by equalizing the run-off, prevent floods.

This is true under average conditions, but during longcontinued, 'ividespread and heavy precipitation the forest bed becomes completely saturated, its storage capacity is exhausted, and it has no more power to restrain floods than the open country itself. The forest cover can hold so much and no more. After that, additional rainfall runs off of it just as quickly as off bare rock. Reforestation, quite evidently, therefore, would have little effect in the control of the greater floods of the Mississippi Valley.

And even if forests did have any important relation to floods of the present magnitude, rvhat could we do about it? Deforestation, particularly in the Valley of the Mississippi and its chief tributaries, has been mainly for agricultural purposes. That we cannot turn farms, which support millions of our people and provide other millions with food, back into forests is obvious.

' Deforeitation in the Ohio watersheds as well as in the Mississippi Valley proper, was for the most part agricultural. Lumbering operations in the Allegheny branch watersheds of the Ohio were past their peak forty or fifty years ago, and the forest region is now re-clothed with a second growth that is as absorptive and retentive of rainfall as the original forest. As far as operations of the forest industries in the upper Mississippi Valley are concerned, there too, the cut-over land is rapidly becoming covered with brush and small trees.

So even those who, in the face of the conclusions of engineers and meterologists, still believe that deforestation results in record floods cannot lay the blame on the forest industries. And they must realize that to have food we must have farms and that evacuating the population of the eastern half of the United States and reforesting all the farms of the forest regions of the Mississippi Valley is an absurdity.

Deforestation, beyond a doubt, does result in soil erosion. Yet if we must till the soil for our food we cannot grow trees on it, for the purpose of preventing erosion. But now along comes a Columbia college professor with a new suggestion. He tells us we have overlooked the enormous food possibilities of trees, both for human and animal consumption, and recommends food forests in place of food fields. He refers particularly to fruit and nut bearing trees. The suggestion may be a bit far fetched but we all know the appetizing and healthful dishes concocted of fruits and nuts, and who knows but what many of our farms may yet be turned back into forests of food yielding trees?

Getting back to forests and their relation to floods we find that the greatest floods of the upper and lower Ohio and the upper Mississippi occurred when the primeval forests were practically intact. In 1763, when scarcely a tree had been cut from the forests of the Ohio Valley, there occurred the greatest flood of which we have any record. On March 9of that year the Ohio River reached 41.1 feet at Pittsburgh. A detailed account of the flood is given by Col. Bouquet, a British officer rvho was stationed at Fort Duquesne, in his writings whichare now in the British Museum.

The greatest flood of the lower Ohio occurred in 1844 at a time when there had been but little deforestation, most of it agricultural.

The "Year of Great \Maters"-1785-marked the greatest flood in the known history of the upper Mississippi Valley. Although no accurate record of this tremendous flood was kept by the French priests, then resident in the settlements of the valley, the water was known to have risen higher than in l9M, year of the next greatest flood when the water reached 41.4 feet at St. Louis.

The River and Flood Division of the U. S. Weather Bureau gives the lou'er Mississippi as the only instance of a river whose flood waters have increased in recent years. Greatest in magnitude, previous to the present flood, according to their records was the flood, of. 1922.

Col. H. M. Chittenden, of the U. S. Army Engineers, whose report on forests and reservoirs in their relation to

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(Continued on Page 36) stream flow, made in 1909 before the American Societv of Civil Engineers, is considered a classic on the subject, laid ln part:

"An examination of the available flood records shows how utterly impossible it is to find anything in thenr to support the. current theory of forest influence. They prove conclusively that there has been no marked clange since the settlement of the country began, and that such change as there has been, is on thJ side of higher high waters and lower low waters before the forests were cut off. . ." "What the record would be if we could go back 200 years cannot be s'aid, but it would show both floods and low waters that would equal or surpass any modern record."

Col. Chittenden goes on to say thatatthe 10th fnternational Congress of Navigation held at Milan in 1905 papers read by_ representatives of France, Germany, Itily, Austria and Russia, lvhile heartily favoring forest culture, were almost unanimous in their opinion that forests exert no appreciable influence upon the extremes of flow in rivers.

Facing the actual facts in regard to the relation of forests to great floods in no way conflicts with a policli of reforestation of all timberlands not claimed by-agrilulture, as a means of drainage control. The experiLnce of many other co^untries, as well as our own, ptouei beyond a doubt that deforestation of mountainous iountry, ii permanent, besides being a useless lvaste of land, results in- disastrous erosion of the soil, irregular stream flow, the accumulation of silt and debris in strelm channels and a tendency to local floo-ds, on one hand, and dry water-courses on the other. Deforestation of country of iuch topographic nature, thus results in making both mountains and vittiys unfit for habitation, devoid of vegetation and wild life, ind barren of all use, as well as destroying the scenic beauty of the landscape.

Douglas Fir Sash And Frames Are Specified For Camp Lewis Barracks

All sash and frames in more than 1800 windows in the new barracks at Camp Lewis, Wn., will be of Douglas fir f8..b9.,s#pplied by the Springer Mill Company, Olymlia, Decision to use rvood instead of steel for this large building project was made by A. Guthrie & Co., the genera( contractor, follolving careful study of comparative installation and maintenance costs of the tw,o materials.

Keen interest was taken in this contract by both steel and lumber manufacturers, the lumber industry contendins that the use of local rvoods would lessen first costs and hold _down expected heavy maintenance charges for steel which would, they stated, inevitably result from deterioration in this moist climate.

_ Major E. G. Griggs, president, St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., Tacoma; J. D. Tennant, vice president, Long-Bell Lumber-Comp-any, Longl'ig\M; and the-springer Milltompany led the forces of the lumber industry-in presentine the case of western woods to the general-contiactor anE interested army engineers. They p-ointed out that among other large buildings, the recently opened Stevens hotel, ii Lhrcago, the_la_rgest building of its kind in the world,.was equipped with 5,000 DouglaJfir sash and frames.

The contract for construction covers Unit A for $592,500. Ultimate_.development at Camp Lewis is planned to inciude three military quadrangles foi field artillirn engineers and special troops., with headquarters for stafi officeis, quarters lor commanding general and officers' quarters

Inquiring Old Lady : "Are you littlesirls sisters ?', Modern Little Girl: "Not eiactly, but"our mother draws alimony from the same man.,

RHINET-A,NDER, WIlt.

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Souttcrn Cdlfornir:

C. J. LI\UGHLIN, |8l Pctrolcun Sccurltic Bld3., Lol Aljclcr

Northm Califonir:

GEORGE C. CORNITIUS. Ancrlcu Buk Bldr., Sel Frrnclrco

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Mcrcheatr Exchengc Buildiag

Kcerny 502

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Picific Mutual Building

VAndikc E792 - TUckcr Z69t

EUREKA, \f,fLcn ia Humboldt Countn Virit Our Mill

Sccold end M Strcctr, Eurclc

Metnbers California Reduood Aesociation