Eastern USA Forests of today owe their existance to the WEEKS ACT...........landmark National legislation that in 1911 allowed the Government to purchase land for National Forests and Stream Protection.......In 2011, .we celebrate the 100th year Anniversary of this far sighted piece of legislation---in my view, purchasing land is a critical component of our National Defense............the more wild space,,,,,the more diversity of life...............the better equipped we are to handle to constant changes that nature throws at us in terms of food, water and disease.................the more expansive our genetic potential, the more choices we have to keep ourselves healthy and thriving in an ever crowded and depleted World

The Weeks Act

The year 2011 will mark the centennial of the Weeks Act — the "organic act" of the eastern national forests. Not only did the law immediately lead to protection of eastern watersheds from further development and exploitation, but it made possible the long-term effort to replant and restore the eastern forests. As one historian has noted, "No single law has been more important in the return of the forests to the eastern United States."
Under the 1891 Forest Reserve Law, President Benjamin Harrison began setting aside large tracts of public land as forest reserves in the western United States. In the eastern U. S., however, land was largely under private ownership. What had once been a magnificent forest that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River at the time of white settlement had become by the end of the nineteenth century heavily cut over land left prone to fire and erosion. These were "the lands nobody wanted."
In response to encountering such conditions in popular vacation spots like the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the southern Appalachians, individuals and organizations began advocating for the purchase of private land by the federal government for recreational purposes. The Appalachian National Park Association (founded 1899) and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (founded 1901) were two of the earliest and most influential organizations. But many in Congress remained unconvinced or unmoved by their entreaties. Some opponents argued that the federal government lacked constitutional authority to purchase land or that states should look after their own forests. Western representatives resented possibly losing funding to their eastern counterparts. Still others failed to see the economic benefits of recreational lands and agreed with House Speaker Joe Cannon when he declared "not one cent for scenery."
Making little headway in Congress, the two preservation groups shifted tactics in 1903 and began campaigning for the protection of watersheds for flood control purposes and to prevent destructive fires. The Appalachian group even changed their name to the Appalachian National Forest Reserve Association in 1903 to reflect this shift. In 1907, the American Forestry Association joined with local and regional groups to help bring a national focus to the effort. While the organizations worked the halls of Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey examined 13 areas in 9 states. In short order, the nine state legislatures officially granted consent for federal land purchases in the interest of creating public forest reserves. Now what was needed was a federal law authorizing the purchase of private land to protect watersheds.
Congressman John Weeks from Massachusetts, a businessman with a strong interest in conservation, provided the necessary leadership on the issue. In 1908, Weeks introduced a bill proposing that the federal government purchase lands near the headwaters of navigable streams, a move that would pass constitutional review under the commerce clause. The following year, Weeks amended the bill, adding that the purchased lands would be permanently maintained as federal forest reserves as a way to protect navigable waterways. With Speaker Cannon's approval, the bill passed the House on June 24, 1909, and, after some delay, the Senate on February 15, 1911. The Weeks Act officially became law on March 1, 1911 when the bill was signed by President William Howard Taft.
The Weeks Act of 1911 authorized the federal government to purchase lands for stream-flow protection, and to maintain the acquired lands as national forests. To help with fire protection, the Weeks Act made available $200,000 to be used as matching funds for states having forest protective agencies. As a result, states began establishing forestry agencies to handle the funds. The law encouraged them to cooperate with one another and the Forest Service's State and Private Forestry branch on fire problems and eventually insect control and forest diseases, something the Clarke-McNary Act (1924) expanded. Clarke-McNary also extended the reach of national forest land purchase to the rest of the country in part by removing the requirement to protect navigable streams.

Memorial Arch at entrance to Pisgah National Forest, created in part with land purchased from the Vanderbilt family in western North Carolina.

Under the act, the Forest Service recommended lands for purchase while the Geological Survey evaluated the acreage to be sure the reserved lands would maintain navigable waterways. The law authorized a National Forest Reservation Commission to consider and approve the land purchases. The commission was composed of the secretaries of War, the Interior, and Agriculture, and two members each from the House and Senate.
The commission held its first meeting on March 7, 1911. Twenty days later, Forest Service chief Henry Graves submitted recommendations for the "Purchase of Land under the Weeks Law in the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains," totaling 13 areas in 9 eastern states, though only 11 of them were purchased. (The Youghiogheny area in Maryland and the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina were dropped. The latter became a national park in 1939.) During its first 21 years, when the commission was at its most active, it sanctioned the purchase of 42 areas, totaling 4,727,680 acres. Land acquisition by the federal government took off again after 1933 as President Franklin Roosevelt's administration set about purchasing 8 million acres in 20 states to be rehabilitated through programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps.
When the Forest Service celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Weeks Law in 1961, more than 20 million acres of forest and watershed lands had been purchased or exchanged. Most of the "lands nobody wanted" are now the core of national forests in the Southern and Eastern regions—with national forests having been established in 26 eastern states.Thousands of acres formerly part of the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina were purchased under the Weeks Law to become part of Pisgah National Forest.