Eco-Link. Eco-Links. Linking Social, Economic, and Ecological Issues. Linking Social, Economic, and Ecological Issues. National Forests & Clean Water:

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1 Eco-Link Eco-Links Linking Social, Economic, and Ecological Issues Linking Social, Economic, and Ecological Issues Volume 18, Number 3. National Forests & Clean Water: Introduction America s forests have long benefited from the support of progressive, passionate individuals who have left their legacy in the governing documents of the United States Forest Service. Even before the establishment of the first National Forest Reserves in 1891, legislators and naturalists worked together to find ways to protect the nations forests. Their efforts were driven by growing concerns related to natural resource consumption, such as how to maintain a sustainable timber supply for the future and prevent devastating forest fires. Understanding the Relationship. Preventing human-caused wildfires has been Smokey Bear s passion for 70 years. Wildfire prevention can also help protect clean water. Painting by Rudy Wendelin, used with permission by the USDA Forest Service. There were also concerns about the effects of deforestation on local water supplies. Immediately after a timber harvest the soil can be left exposed which can cause erosion of that soil into nearby streams, rivers, and lakes which can reduce the depth of the bodies of water and reduce the flow of streams and rivers. Soils may also become compacted, such that water will no longer be easily absorbed. Water may flow over the soil surface and into nearby streams and increase the amount and speed of water flow. Eco-Link is a publication of ForestInfo.org 2014 Dovetail Partners, Inc.

2 These soil conditions can contribute to downstream flooding.1 Exposed soils may also contribute to a phenomenon known as desertification in which the heat reflected off the bare soil and the inability of the soil to absorb rainwater contributes to drought like conditions.2 The damages of drought can increase the risk of tree mortality and produce conditions favorable to forest fires. America s rivers have historically served as indispensable thoroughfares for industry and commerce. Rivers continue to be important today for transportation as well as drinking water supplies and other uses. A key element uniting these issues of timber supply, forest fires and waterways lies in the relationship between forest health and the effectiveness of surrounding watersheds to absorb and regulate water flow. Influential individuals of the late1800s observed the connection between caring for forests and providing for high quality water supplies and called for immediate action. As a result, today 124 million people, about 40% of the U.S. population, benefit from and rely on national forests and national grasslands for their clean drinking water supply. Observations and Predictions In 1839, the Minister of the Interior of Mexico, José Romero, identified drought, failing harvests, and dying cattle near the Mexican American border as a result of deforestation in the surrounding hills and mountains.3 Franklin B. Hough, first chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, observed that deforested land was unable to hold and absorb water when it rained, thus contributing to excessive runoff, drought and flooding.4 In 1855 R.U. Piper of Woburn, MA published The Trees of America, in which he noted 1 Image 1: George Perkins Marsh, author of Man and Nature. kins_marsh.jpg that summers were becoming dryer and streams were becoming shallower due to forest destruction. Thirteen years later, a man by the name of George Perkins Marsh (image 1) would publish a highly influential book titled Man and Nature in which he discussed the serious effects of forest destruction upon climate, rainfall, and flooding.5 Marsh proposed that the very survival of American civilization was, in fact, dependent on good management of watersheds. His work would eventually be widely cited in arguments which supported government action to care for forests.6 Erosion and Flooding, Reforestation Trust 2 Probable Impact of Deforestation on Hydrological Processes, V.M. Meher-Homji 5 footnote 1, page html Lewis, James G. The Forest Service and The Greatest 3 See footnote 1, page 28. Good: A centennial History. Forest History Society. 4 See footnote 1, page 30. Durham Eco Links National Forests & Water Quality: Understanding the Relationship 2

3 Local Needs and Actions Problems of unpredictable seasonal water conditions and waterway navigability were trouble enough without the additional problem of water pollution. In the 1800s, polluted urban water supplies were spreading disease. Overburdened bodies of water were unable to absorb and process inflows of waste. These problems were amplified by a growing American population. It soon became clear that problems were made worse by the unregulated removal of tree cover from watersheds. The 1870s saw a push from citizens and local government officials for stable and far reaching laws to preserve, protect, and promote good forest management. 7 Americans were realizing they had to act quickly to reverse the devastating effects of unmanaged logging and deforestation, but at the time there was no centralized agency whose responsibility it was to regulate forest related issues. Most of the early efforts aimed at maintaining water flow and reliable water supply via forest protection came from local government and private organizations. 8 For example, in 1873, Verplanck Colvin, Superintendent of the Adirondack Survey and co-founder of the New York Forest Preserve, urged New York State to purchase forest land at the source of the Hudson River. Verplanck argued that it was necessary to maintain forest cover in the Adirondack Mountains if New York wanted to maintain the flow of water in the Erie Canal. 9 Protecting the Erie Canal was critical for New York as the canal served as an important gateway for western expansion. The canal allowed for export of Midwestern agricultural products and facilitated the transformation of New York City into a commercial, industrial and financial giant. The establishment of forest reserves near the headwaters of rivers and streams was a strategic decision. Several local and federal forest reserves are oriented to protect headwater reserves (see image 2). Ecologists and foresters knew from observations and experience that in order to make the greatest positive impact on downstream water flow and dependability, forestland at the head of a watershed must be maintained. Image 2: Correlation between national forests (bottom map) and major U.S. waterways (top map). Top map: rivers-2.php Bottom map: chap1.htm 7 See footnote 1, page See footnote 1, page See footnote 1, page 29. Eco Links National Forests & Water Quality: Understanding the Relationship 3

4 Because downstream communities were the most affected, residents of valley cities and basin towns were among the most powerful proponents for the creation of a centralized forest regulatory organization that would establish and maintain forest reserves in these critical areas. Establishment of the United States Forest Service In the latter part of the 1800s, a diverse number of individuals and agencies within the Department of Agriculture 10 were responsible for managing timber supplies and preventing forest fires but were slow to draw a connection between the health of forested land and nearby water quality. Eventually resolute conservationists persuaded congress to pass the Forest Reserve Act in 1891 which had the expressed goal of preserving timber resources on public land and an implied goal of preserving waterways and wildlife through forest acquisition. Under the newly created Forest Reserve Act of 1891, the Yellowstone National Park Timber Land Reserve was the first forested land in the United States to be set aside as a federal reserve. As the federal government began building its fledgling forest agency, several state representatives, began to recognize the potential for federal forest reserves to preserve water flow and dependability in their home states. Representative Charles Lindbergh of Minnesota requested that a forest reserve be established at the head of the Mississippi River. New York representative Thomas Bradley petitioned for the preservation of the Highlands of the Hudson, and Texas representative John Stephens attempted repeatedly to secure a reserve at the head of the Red River of the South. 11 Even though a few of these efforts never came to fruition, the fervor with which representatives sought to include reserves in their states accelerated the momentum for federal action. The Federal Forest Agency was soon supported by several pieces of regulatory and conservationist legislation. The earliest piece of legislation to make explicit mention of any type of active watershed protection in the United States was an amendment to the Sundry Civil Appropriations Act in 1897, also known as the Organic Act. The Organic Act, drafted in part by the third chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, Bernhard Fernow, sought to protect the flow of waterways by setting aside certain forestland based on its importance for protecting surrounding watersheds. 12 The main purpose of the Organic Act was to outline a specific use for each forest reserve and the management practices for that reserve. Unlike the national parks, which were created primarily to preserve natural beauty and unique outdoor recreation opportunities, the founders of early national forests envisioned them as working forests with multiple objectives. Image 3: USDA Forest Service insignia. Used with permission from the USDA Forest Service 12 US Forest Service 10 The Department of Agriculture was created in < 11 See footnote 1, page 211. ective.shtml> Eco Links National Forests & Water Quality: Understanding the Relationship 4

5 The Organic Act states: "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 for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States " 12 By 1905, congress had begun to seriously consider the importance of managing forests for multiple purposes and had transferred most federal forestry management to one central, far reaching organization within the Department of Agriculture; the United States Forest Service, the insignia of which can be seen in image 3. The Weeks Act of 1911 The Weeks Act of 1911 was probably the most influential piece of legislation directing the future of forest management specifically for the control of water resources. The act gave power to the Secretary of Agriculture to " examine, locate, and purchase such forested, cutover, or denuded lands within the watersheds of navigable streams as in his judgment may be necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams or for the production of timber." 13 Several National Forests were created under the Weeks Act to restore forests on lands that had been heavily logged or cleared for agriculture. Many of today s National Forests in the eastern United States were acquired under the Weeks Act, and were replanted through the reforestation efforts by the Forest Service and partners such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. The establishment of the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon in 1908 (image 4) is an example of a community effort to protect its future water supply. Special agent of the General Land Office R.G. Savery, Jr. was sent by Congress to report on the legitimacy and urgency for the adoption of a National Forest within the Cascade Mountain Range. Savery s finding concurred with the popular sentiment that a Image 4: North Umpqua River in Umpqua National Forest Oregon. Source: National Forest should be established at this site, stating that a heavily forested peak in the Cascade Mountain Range, Mt. Hood, was the source of thousands of streams and that likely would become the future water supply of Portland. 14 National Forests and Water Quality Today Currently, wildfire is a major concern for the US Forest Service. To reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, the Forest Service is increasing its use of strategically planned controlled burns for the purpose of reducing flammable fuels (image 5). One of the main goals of managing wildfires is the protection of clean water Crater Lake National Park: Administrative History by Harlan D. Unrau and Stephen Mark, CHAPTER THREE: Crater Lake Administered By The General Land Office As Part Of The Cascade Range Forest Reserve: Crater Lake Institute US Forest Service, Fire & Aviation Management 13 See footnote Eco Links National Forests & Water Quality: Understanding the Relationship 5

6 reduced by 25% in recent years. In order to supplement a reduced budget, the US Forest Service has also had to divert funds from wildfire prevention to fight increasing wildfires, further compounding the problem. 18 Image 5: A controlled burn by the US Forest Service to reduce wildfire risk. Courtesy of the US Forest Service website Find-a-photo dphoto.nsf/photo/aba1a6a52a2776a f80079b7a0?op endocument Wildfire can result in many physical, chemical, and biological changes to a forested watershed. Some of these changes will be long lasting and some will quickly revert back to pre-fire conditions. 16 One impact that affects water quality is the increase in soil erosion which can lead to sedimentation overload in rivers and streams. Erosion can also cause damage to wells, pumps, and filters in areas immediately impacted by wildfire. 17 Chemical impacts of wildfires on water can include elevated nutrient loads of phosphorus and nitrogen. Test burns in California have demonstrated that post-fire nitrogen levels in streams were 10 times the federal drinking water standard measured three years after the burns and continuing for up to 10 years after (see footnote 16). Unfortunately, federal funding for underbrush cleanup as a means of wildfire prevention has been 16 Colorado State University Extensions, Addressing the Impacts of Wildfire on Water Resources 17 Meixner, Tom and Wohlgemuth, Pete Wildfire Impacts Follow Up and Conclusion There are several benefits that come from National Forests, including protection of clean water. The establishment and management of 155 national forests has had, and will continue to have, a tremendous positive effect on the lives of Americans. Currently 124 million people, or about 40% of the 2012 United States population, rely on national forests and national grasslands for their clean drinking water supply. Looking for more information? resources: Check out these Forests to Faucets - a project of the USDA Forest Service 2faucets.shtml Lewis, James G The Forest Service and The Greatest Good: A centennial History. Forest History Society. Durham. s.html Center for International Forestry Research, Key Research Findings - Forests and Water %20-%20Water.pdf This EcoLink was prepared by Dovetail Partners, Special thanks to Peggy Anderson, Environmental Education and Water Quality Intern for the research and development of this EcoLink. Special thanks to the USDA Forest Service for granting permission for the use of requested images. 18 The New York Times, Cost of Battling Wildfires Cuts on Water Quality Into Prevention Efforts df Eco Links National Forests & Water Quality: Understanding the Relationship 6