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The United States Natural Resources

Water:The availability of water has been an inqportant factor in America’s growth. The nation is blessed with large supplies of fresh water except in the desert regions of the West. 

Such rivers as the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Hudson and the Colorado irrigate the croplands of hundreds of miles of fertile valleys. The early development of a prosperous agricultural system and he later development of an industrial base were made possible largely by vast water resources.

Today the rivers and streams of America fumish 63 percent of the water supply for cities, towns and farmlands, 93 percent of the water used by industry, and almost all of the water used to create electric power. In the earliest days, the rivers were the most important means of transportation, for people and commercial goods,and they are still major carriers of Nowadays, as increasing water consumption threatens the reserve supplies, the United States Department of the Interior has been actively developing practical ways to convert ocean water into fresh water.

Forests:About a third of the land area of the United States is covered by forests, and more than. 600 million acres (240 million hectares) is commercial forest land. Property managed forests prevent flooding and soil erosion, and stabilize climatic conditions. Wood, resins and other forest products are the basic raw materials of several of the nation's largest industries.
Despite the heavy use of forest products, the nation now grows more timber than it cuts Federal and state governments and industries have joined in a major tree-planting program.
About 225 million acres (91 million hectares) of U.S. forest land is reserved by law as “National Forest” for the use of all the people. These 155 protected forests provide Americans with large recrcation areas and they also serve as essential watersheds and safe habitats for wildlife. In the West more than 3, 600, 000 cattle, horses, swine, sheep and goats graze on the open lands of the National Forests, which arc rented as pastureland in order to control excessive plant growth.
Territories and Other Areas
Puerto Rico, an island of about 9,000 square kilometers in the Caribbean Sea, is linked to the United States as a commonwealth. Its 2,712, 000 people are citizens of the United States. They elect their own governor and legislature. Puerto Rico’s economic growth program in the past 20 years has brougit the island prosperity and has drawn many visitors and students from developing countries. Nearly a thousand new factories have been built and are providing major jobs for Puerto Rican workers.

The Panama Canal Zone, a strip of land in Panama extending eight kilometers on both sides of the Canal, was under American control from 1904 to 1978 under the terms of treaties between the two nations. On September 7,1978,leaders of both countries signed a new treaty which placed 65 percent of the territory under Panamanian control immediately and remaining land by the year 2000. The continuing responsibility of the United States for defense and operation of the Canal will also be transferred to Panama by that date. Panama agreed to guarantee the neutrality of the Canal indefinitely,and the United States promised to continue payment to Panama for services and operating rigics until 2000.
A number of Pacific islands also are under American control. The largst is Guam, which covers 549 square kilometers and has a population of about 85, 000. Its Congress is elected by the people of Guam: The government is under the administration of the United States Department of the Interior, as i$ . the government of American Samoa (197 square kilometers, population 27, 000). Wake Island is administered by the U.S. Air Force, and the Navy Department has jurisdiction over the Midway Islands. The United Nations has given the United States responsibility for the island groups of the Carolines, Marianas, and Marshalls, in the Pacific.

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