Yet a February 1986 report in "People's Daily" said that the forest cover of the 53 counties through which the major tributaries of the Yangtze River flow now falls below three percent--one reason why the Yangtze River is turning "yellow."
一九八六年二月十三日「人民日報」上的新聞說，沱江、涪江、嘉陵江等長江主要支流流經的五十三個縣，半數森林覆蓋率不到百分之三，這也是「長江變黃河」的主要原因。