By holding sod in place, forests furnish a sponge-like reservoir which absorbs rainfall and then retains it sufficiently to insure that it will be paid out only gradually. The process of cutting down forests, called deforestation, destroys the sod, so that streams formerly fed from forested areas by a steady process become dangerously swollen in certain seasons and greatly reduced in size at other times. One effect of this alternation of freshets with abnormally dry periods is a loss of steady and dependable water power.
Deforestation has also an injurious effect upon agriculture. When heavy rains wash valuable surface soil from the tops and sides of hills these denuded areas are rendered less valuable for grazing, while the overabundance of top soil in the valleys retards effective cultivation. Agriculture also suffers from the fact that streams which would ordinarily furnish a steady supply of irrigation water are often either in a state of flood or practically dried up.
Despite the excellent work done by the Department of Agriculture, American farming methods are in many sections of the country both careless and wasteful. The abundance of land in past years seemed to justify our free use of it, nevertheless such use has in many cases resulted in a serious loss of fertility. Careless tillage and a failure to rotate crops have resulted in a heavy loss of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and other essential soil elements.
Heretofore we have used coal very lavishly. Often as much coal has been wasted as has been mined. Mining corporations have often neglected low grade coal deposits, and have abandoned mines without having first removed all of the accessible high grade coal. Imperfect combustion, both in dwellings and in industrial establishments, is said to waste more than a third of our coal, as well as creating a costly and injurious smoke nuisance. Our consumption of coal is doubling every ten years. In view of the fact that our coal deposits are limited, this increasing consumption is a serious development.
Iron, too, has been used wastefully. The bog iron deposits of the Atlantic coast were used up before 1800, and as the result of an intense industrial development since 1850, the supply of high grade ores is being speedily diminished. Oil and gas have been used lavishly, and even, in some cases, deliberately wasted.
369. HIGH PRICES.—The lavish use of natural resources which has characterized the American people since colonial times has been an important factor in the cost of living. In early days there was an abundance of resources and few people to use them; at present the supply of many of our resources is greatly diminished, and there is a much larger population seeking to use them. In the case of every natural resource the supply is either limited or is failing to increase as rapidly as are the demands upon it. The result is higher prices for coal, wood, iron, oil, gas, and similar commodities. It is at least partly due to the heavy drain upon our resources that the cost of building homes, heating them, feeding the population, and carrying on the varied activities of American industry is steadily increasing.
370. MONOPOLY.—Throughout the history of our natural resources there has been a strong tendency toward monopoly. Natural resources should be safeguarded for the benefit of the people as a whole, yet much of our natural wealth has been monopolized by individuals. Four fifths of our timber lands are privately owned, and of that four fifths about half is controlled by 250 companies. Two thirds of the developed water power in this country is controlled by a small group of power interests. Defective land laws, the lax administration of good laws, and extravagant land grants to railroads have allowed private fortunes to be built up without a proportionate advantage to the public. Coal and petroleum deposits are controlled largely by a few corporations, while a heavy percentage of our copper and iron deposits is in private hands.
371. THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT.—After the middle of the nineteenth century the growing scarcity of many natural resources called attention to the need of conserving them. Conservation means to utilize economically, rather than to hoard. It means, furthermore, that resources should be used so that both the present and future generations will reap a proper benefit from America's great natural gifts. Thus conservation seeks, Mr. Van Hise once said, "the greatest good to the greatest number, and for the longest time." The dawn of the conservation idea stimulated a reaction against the careless administration of natural resources. Toward the end of the 19th century, there was an increasing amount of legislation encouraging the legitimate use of natural resources on the one hand, and repressing monopoly on the other. After the opening of the twentieth century interest in conservation increased. In 1908 President Roosevelt called a conference of the governors of the various states for the purpose of considering this vital problem, and from that meeting dates a definite and nationwide conservation policy in this country.
Some of the effects of this changing attitude toward natural resources may now be noted.
372. FORESTS AND WATER POWER.—In 1891 a Federal law provided for a system of national forest reservations. These reservations now include a substantial proportion of our forests, and are steadily extending their limits. Since 1897 there has been a Bureau of Forestry which has performed invaluable services. Forest fires have been reduced, denuded areas have been reforested, forest cutting has been controlled, and a constructive program of forest culture developed. Forest reserves under the control of the individual states now total more than 10,000,000 acres. Of late years there has been an increasing use of dams and reservoirs for the storage of flood waters and the development of water power. This regulation of streams gives a uniform flow of water both for navigation and for irrigation purposes.