“Reprinted with revised Bibliography, 1927, from Appendix V of the Final Report of the National Waterways Commission, 1912. (Senate Document No. 469, 62d Congress, 2d Session)”  “Object of the Report”  “ Of all the direct influences of the forest the influence upon the supply of water in streams and upon the regularity of their flow is the most important in human economy. Yet so many are the factors which play related parts in this influence, so great is the difficulty of observing them with precision, and so wide the range of economic interests affected, that considerable divergence of opinion has arisen on the subject. This, however, if prompted by a sincere desire to reach the bottom of a complicated and vital problem, can only be productive of results of the highest scientific value.” “ There is, perhaps no other problem facing the American people to-day which demands such care in the scientific accuracy of its data and conclusions as does the relation between forests and water. It is imperative, therefore, that no final conclusions be drawn in regard to this relation until ample, reliable, and critically revised evidence upon which to base them is available. A national policy which, though considering the direct value of forests as a source of timber, fails to take full account also of their influence upon erosion, the flow of streams, and climate, may easily endanger the well-being of the whole people.” (page 1)  On October 28, 2010, a gift of "historic" proportions from the son of a New Jersey chicken farmer created the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University, to position the university to be a global leader in the effort to create a sustainable future. The $80 million gift is the single largest gift to the Ithaca campus from an individual, and according to the "Ithaca Journal" (10/28/2010), the largest gift ever given to a university for sustainability research and faculty support.