Soil conservation and forestry go together

Excerpt

THIRTY years before the establishment of the Soil Conservation Service, concern for soil and watershed protection led to the creation of the Forest Service. The Organic Administration Act of 1897, which truly established the national forest system, said that no national forest “shall be established, except to improve and protect the forest within the boundaries, or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber….”

So the authority for creating national forests was based on the dual objectives of protecting soil and water and providing a perpetual supply of timber. In fact, to a great extent, the petition and support for establishment of national forests came from Colorado and farmers in California who irrigated their farmlands and wanted to protect the water supply coming from the mountains.

Similarly, in 1911 the Weeks Act provided for the purchase by the secretary of agriculture of land in the East. That law permitted the purchase of land that was forested, cutover, or denuded within the watersheds of navigable streams if, in the secretary's judgment, it might be necessary for the regulation of the flow of navigable streams or the …