e lack of
irrigation water. Towns and cities that depended on the mountain
streams for their water supplies would be handicapped severely.
In a thousand and one ways, a deficient water supply due to
forest depletion would cause hardships and suffering in the
regions exposed to such misfortune.

The important part which forests play in the development of our
country is shown by the fact that from the streams of the
National Forests over 700 western cities and towns, with an
aggregate population of nearly 2,500,000, obtain their domestic
water supply. The forests include 1266 irrigation projects and
325 water-power plants, in addition to many other power and
irrigation companies which depend on the Government timberlands
for water conservation and the regulation of rain water run-off
and stream flow.

The National Forests aid greatly in conserving and making
available for use the precious limited rainfall of the arid
regions. That is why settlers in irrigated districts are deeply
interested in the cutting of timber in the Federal woodlands.
Destructive lumbering is never practiced in these forests. In its
place has been substituted a system of management that assures
the continued preservation of the forest-cover. Uncle Sam is
paying special attention to the western water-sheds which supply
reclamation and irrigation projects. He understands that the
ability of the forest to regulate stream flow is of great
importance. The irrigation farmers also desire a regular flow,
evenly distributed, throughout the growing season.

One of the chief reasons for the establishment of the National
Forest was to preserve the natural conditions favorable to stream
flow. In a treeless country, the rise of the streams is a very
accurate measure of the rainfall. In the region where forests are
frequent, an ordinary rain is scarcely noticed in its effect on
the stream. In a denuded district no natural obstacles impede
the raindrops as they patter to the ground. The surface of the
soil is usually hard. It is baked and dried out by the sun. It is
not in condition to absorb or retain much of the run-off water,
consequently, the rain water finds little to stop it as it swirls
down the slopes. In torrents it rushes down the stream beds, like
sheets of water flowing down the steep roof of a house.

Conditions are very different in a region where forest cover is
abundant. In the forests, the tops of the trees catch much of the
rain that falls