STREAM-FLOW CONTROVERSY - CONSERVATION TURNING POINT

HISTORIANS have long recognized that scientific theories and scientific evidence have made important contributions to the rise of the organized conservation movement in the United States. Even those individuals who advocated conservation for economic or aesthetic reasons frequently strengthened their cause by basing it upon scientific data, and scientific institutions often were the vehicles by which conservationists advanced their specific crusades. One important component of forest conservation theory was the hypothesis that deforestation radically affects runoff and stream flow. More specifically, conservationists argued that the clearing of timber increases the level and frequency of floods, accelerates soil erosion, and retards precipitation, and all of these results are disastrous for waterpower, commerce, irrigation, agriculture, and natural beauty. Conservationists predicted that the United States, because of its mistreatment of the forest, would follow many ancient civilizations-China, Palestine, Lebanon, Greece, Rome-down the irretraceable path of desiccation and destruction. © 1969, Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.