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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE |.
WHAT THE NATIONAL FORESTS MEAN TO THE
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION
By FREDERICK S. BAKER
Forest Examiner, Forest Service
F-59441
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1925
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WHAT THE NATIONAL FORESTS MEAN TO THE INTERMOUNTAIN
REGION
By FREDERICK S. BAKER, Forest Examiner, Forest Service
WEALTH THAT COMES DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS
The intermountain region, the elevated basin bounded east and
west by the Rockies and Sierras and north and south by the Salmon
and Colorado Rivers,' is characterized economically by the concen-
tration of settlement and development in relatively small areas like
oases in the great semiarid plains and rough mountain ranges.
This concentration is what first strikes the eye of the observer in
search of the economic forces at work in the region. It looks as
though the region’s fundamental wealth were in these favored spots;
in the few rich irrigated sections, in the scattered mining sections
where coal and mineral deposits have built up prosperous communi-
ties, and in the industrial cities of the valleys. Even statistics of
the kind easily collected may confirm this impression. For in-
stance, in a rich agricultural county having an efficient irrigation
system like Canyon County, Idaho, ‘the land is worth about $67 an
acre, whereas in a mountain county like Custer County in the same
part of the State the assessed valuation averages but 81 cents an
acre. A careful study of underlying conditions, however, reveals
the fact that a great deal of the wealth in the more flourishing sec-
tions comes directly or indirectly from the mountains; that it is
the mountain masses, the sources of wood and water, which are the
fountain heads of prosperity and development to the region. The
lumber industry, the livestock industry, irrigated farming, water-
power development, mining, and other economic activities all depend
fundamentally on the resources drawn from the mountains and on
the effect of the vegetative cover on their slopes.
Wood and water are what give life to the farms, the mines, and
the cities; and it is from the mountains that they must come in this
region. The high ranges are the chief contributors of these two
fundamental necessities. The infinite number of small, low moun-
tain ranges that break up the great plateau have not meant much
to the development of the valley land because the resources which
the mountains provide depend very largely upon the amount of rain-
fall they receive, which, in turn, is dependent in great measure upon
their height. Roughly, the mountains that have really counted in
1 The intermountain region coincides roughly with Forest Service district 4, the extent
of which is shown on map (pp. 12 and 13). In compilations in this circular other than
those regarding national forests, a number of counties cut by district 4 boundaries have
been excluded (Coconino and Mohave Counties in Arizona; Mesa and Montrose Counties
in Colorado; Idaho County in Idaho; Esmeralda, Mineral, Ly on, and Washoe Counties in
Nevada ; and Fremont County in Wyoming). ‘Sweetwater County, Wyo., lying partly
within and partly without the boundaries, has been included.
1
9)
2 Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
the upbuilding of the region are the high major masses, those which
have enough rainfall to produce forests.
Out of the region’s 35,000,000 acres, approximately, of mountain
land valuable for timber and as the source of irrigation water, more
than 29,000,000 acres are now included within the national forests.
The close relationship that exists between the national forests and
the adjacent valleys, and the dependence of these valleys on the
resources furnished by the timbered mountains, is indicated on the
map (pp. 12 and 13), which shows that by far the greater part of the
population of the intermountain region is crowded close to the moun-
tain ranges covered by national-forest lands. In central Idaho,
where there is a considerable population somewhat remote from
national forests, the two are nevertheless closely linked by the Snake
River, which receives from the mountains within national forests
the water needed by this population.
FORESTS AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
In tracing the history of the function of mountain lands in the
development of this region, it must be remembered that the areas
which were only “mountain lands” for so many years are now
national forests, and that the problems of these lands are now first
and foremost national-forest problems. National-forest administra-
tion now deals with virtually all the resources which the mountains
and mountain lands have furnished all through the years since white
men came into this region and began its development.
FUR TRADING
EARLY HISTORY
After the explorers—Father Escalante and his party, who came
up from what is now Arizona in 1776-77, and Lewis and Clark, who
in 1804 entered a corner of this region in passing from what is now
Montana into Idaho on their way westward—the first white men to
invade the region were the fur traders. Andrew Henry, the first
American to push the fur trade across the Continental Divide, built
Henry’s Fort in the fall of 1809, near what is now the Targhee
National Forest, in eastern Idaho. He found the traffic unsatisfac-
tory in that region, however, and retreated from his outpost the
following spring. In 1811 the overland party of Astorians on their
way to the Pacific northwest left detachments at this fort with
instructions to trap in the upper Snake River region. In 1819 Hud-
son Bay trappers from the north worked down through much of
southern Idaho, and in 1524 large expeditions representing both the
Hudson Bay Fur Co., from the north and Americans from the east
came into the intermountain country. Gen. William H. Ashley,
Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger, and other famous frontiersmen were
connected with the American party. After this year the whole
intermountain region was well covered by trappers, both American
and British.
In those days the trappers chiefly sought beaver fur, which brought
the highest price, and worked mainly in the mountains. To them
the valleys meant primarily easy avenues of travel or favorable
spots in which to rendezvous and spend the winter. In the moun-
tain forests the beaver swarmed on the creeks. The aspen tree, the
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National Forests and the Intermountain Region 8
favorite food of the beaver, was plentiful, and trappers throughout
the region found the mountains a most satisfactory and profitable
hunting ground.
PRESENT OUTLOOK
The glorious days of the fur trader have long since gone, trapping
is now a much less picturesque pursuit, and the supply of fur-bear-
ing animals has been depleted. Even now, however, the annual sale
of skins is a matter of no small importance. Furthermore, the future
promises more importance to this trade rather than less; for the
beaver are increasing rapidly under protection.
F-15167!
Fic. 1.—Pine marten, a valuable fur-bearing animal, found only in the forests
The mountain forests furnish ideal homes for these valuable ani-
mals, and forest preservation and protection assure the continuance
of the beaver colonies amid natural conditions where again they
may thrive and produce annually hundreds of pelts of first quality
and highest value. Not only the beaver, but many other kinds of
fur-bearing animals (fig. 1), find homes in the timbered mountains,
and in the future as in the past the fur trade will depend in a large
measure upon the perpetuation of the mountain forests.
IRRIGATION
THE MORMON PIONEERS AND THE BEGINNING OF IRRIGATED FARMING
From about 1825 to 1847 the only industry of the intermountain
region was that of the trapper and fur trader. In the summer of
the latter year, however, Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young
forced their way through the passes in the mountains that surround
Salt Lake Valley and came down on what was then a great sagebrush-
covered flat. On July 23 came the first advance guard, driving their
4. Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
prairie schooners out of the mouth of Emigration Canyon to a halt-
ing place in what is now the center of Salt Lake City. That very
afternoon they unslung their plows, hitched up their teams, and
started to turn a furrow. The soil was dry and baked, however,
and the attempt was unsuccessful. So turning aside the waters: of
the small stream now known as City Creek upon the sun-baked
earth, they let it soak over night and the next morning found no
difficulty in plowing the land. With that first furrow began the irri-
gated agriculture of the intermountain region, which is the founda-
tion of the greater part of the prosperity of the valleys to-day.
PROSPERITY THROUGH IRRIGATION
This prospertiy is made possible only through the union of the
fertile soil and the life-giving water from the mountains. Great
depths of snow accumulate in the high ranges in the winter. Then
through the spring and early summer the snow melts slowly, fur-
nishing a great volume of water to the valley below. Later the earth
yields its stored supphes through springs and wells. Of the 61,840
farms in the intermountain region, 50,025 are irrigated—approxi-
mately 4,500,000 acres. Irrigated land amounts to 70 per cent of the
improved farm lands of the region. Each year this irrigated land
produces crops worth approximately $140,000,000.
RELATION OF FORESTS TO WATER FLOW
In a sense it is true that this water resource is so closely related to
the climate and the characteristics of all mountains that man can
never destroy it nor forests influence it. As long as the mountains
stand, their cold heights will continue to accumulate great masses of
snow, which the summer sun will melt and send down to the farms.
Summer storms will continue to gather around the mountain crests,
adding to the flow of the canyon streams. The amount of water
which falls in the mountains can not be changed essentially by man.
Nevertheless, man can do a great deal to determine whether the water
shall flow gradually to the valleys and build up the farms and in-
dustries there or rush down in floods to destroy the very prosperity
it might build up.
If the mountain vegetation is removed by fire, by destructive
lumbering, by excessive grazing, or by any other means, erosion and
floods follow. Showers cut the unprotected earth away and make
steep-sided channels through which even the normal spring freshets
from the gently melting snow rush with great violence, carrying
along mud, gravel, and stone, clogging irrigation ditches and canals,
filling reservoirs, and doing much damage. With the heavier
storms of midsummer, destruction comes out of the mountains in
the form of floods carrying great bowlders, whole trees, and tons of
earth, rock, and gravel, to spread over the farm lands in the valleys
below. These storms destroy irrigation works, bridges, highways,
and portions of towns. They even involve the loss of human life.
In 1923, for example, floods from a half hour’s thunderstorm in
northern Utah did damage in excess of $150,000 to fields and towns
and killed nine persons.
Even partial destruction of the vegetation on the mountains means
long-continued losses that amount to a great deal in the aggregate.
National Forests and the Intermountain Region 5
Dams and great reservoirs become impossible on streams subject to
floods and carrying great masses of débris; for though the construc-
tion may be strong enough to withstand the rush of flood waters, the
capacity of the reservoir is reduced with every freshet, and pres-
ently the reservoir is full of useless earth and rock instead of valu-
able water. Many small reservoirs throughout the intermountain
region, now useless, bear silent witness to this fact.
There is also the item of time which might be put to productive
use but is wasted each year in ridding the ‘canals of their great ac-
cumulation of silt and sand. In some places the disposal of these
accumulations has become a serious problem. On the irrigation
project served by the Elephant Butte storage dam in New Mexico,
enormous quantities of sand washed into the river from arroyos
cause difficulty and great expense in keeping the canals free of sand
accumulations.
SEASONAL VARIATION IN THE VALUE OF WATER TO CROPS
Less spectacular, but nevertheless real and very great, is the loss
in effectiveness of the water when it comes down all at once early in
the season and then rapidly dwindles away through the summer.
Studies made at the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station in regard
to the “duty” of water, which are showing how to make available
irrigation water go the farthest in the production of crops, have in-
dicated that nearly every crop needs late water; that is, water
through midsummer. Midsummer water is of much more value than
a superabundance at the time of the spring freshets. Irrigation
W ain early water alone frequently results in yields scarcely oreater
than those produced in the same neighborhood by dry farming.
Through the destruction of watershed cover early melting “of the
snow is encouraged ; the snow drifts less, and drifts, instead of lying
in the shade of the trees to melt slowly as late as J uly, are exposed to
the full heat of the sun and rapidly disintegrate during the spring.
Also, along with the processes that destroy trees and vegetation on
the mountain comes the compacting of the soil, which lessens its
ability to absorb water. Hence surface run-off increases, spring
freshets are intensified, and the flow of springs, which furnishes the
late water in many of the streams, is decreased. Thus, although the
total run-off is actually increased, ‘it is far less useful and may prove
dangerously destructive.
EFFECT OF WATER SUPPLY ON LAND VALUES
In the intermountain region the total value of farm land amounts
to approximately $658,000,000. By far the greater part of this value
hes in the irrigated lands rather than in dry-farm areas and pastures.
The water for irrigation comes almost entirely from mountains in-
cluded in the national forests, which cover between 29,000,000 and
30,000,000 acres of the intermountain region. Were the water taken
from the irrigated lands, their value would decrease tremendously,
for in some cases they would then be valuable only for grazing. Most
of the land now irrigated would be unprofitable as dry-farm land. It
would be difficult to estimate accurately the actual money value added
to the farm lands of the region as the result of irrigation, but it is
probable that the amount would reach more than half the total
value of the land at present, or several hundred million dollars,
@ Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture
VALUE OF WATERSHED PROTECTION AS A FLOOD PREVENTIVE
The effect of watershed protection on floods is shown by an ex-
perience which the town of Manti, in central Utah, passed through.
Some 20 years ago, when the watershed had been subjected to over-
grazing and fires, floods were extremely frequent and destructive,
rushing out of the canyon above the town and doing great damage
not only to the town itself but also to the fertile fields located on the
alluvial fan at the mouth of the canyon. In a few years damage
estimated as high as $125,000 was done. Conditions got so bad that
some of the more pessimistic talked seriously df moving away and
abandoning the town, because they believed that it was destined to
be forever subject to destructive floods and that prosperity could
never exist there. After the creation of the Manti National Forest,
in 1904, the watershed was carefully protected from overgrazing,
fires, and other destructive use. As a result, at the present time
F-152668
Wie. 2.—Behind the Arrowrock dam on the Boise River, Idaho. The Boise River rises on
national forest lands
Manti Canyon is singularly free from floods. The water flow is even,
the town prosperous.
City Creek, which discharges out of a rough and precipitous can-
yon into the very heart of Salt Lake City, has, as a precautionary
measure, been protected for many years from all forms of use. In
1923 this canyon was undoubtedly subject to as heavy a rainfall as
Farmington Canyon, a short distance north, from which issued a
destructive flood. If such a flood had come out of City Creek the
property loss would have been enormous, but the stream rose only
about 4 inches. Watershed protection has a very real value in
dollars and cents.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
EARLY HISTORY
Hardly were the Mormon pioneers established in Salt Lake Val-
ley when there came an insistent demand for wood for houses, barns,
furniture, fuel, and many other purposes. The rush of gold seek-
ers to California in 1849 brought a boom to the region, and more
National Forests and the Intermountain Region 7,
and more lumber was needed. The mountains close at hand were
the only source available.
Many stories are told of how completely the native forests were
made to supply the needs of the early pioneers. The willows along
the creeks furnished charcoal for gunpowder. The knotted and
stunted mountain mahogany that grows in the crevices of rocks
furnished excellent fuel, and from its extremely hard wood were
made such articles as drumsticks and flutes. At a later date the
cottonwood along the canyon bottoms and the aspen from the moun-
tains in the vicinity of Salt Lake City were used, in conjunction
with rags, for the manufacture of paper upon which the Desert
News was for many years printed. To-day, old stumps on the
most rugged parts of the mountains close to Salt Lake City and
other early settlments tell better than words how tremendously
valuable the conifers were for lumber and how the pioneers searched
out timber in places where a modern logger would consider it
unprofitable to go.
In 1865 gold was discovered in Boise Basin, and the rush to that
region started a demand for lumber there. Timber was vastly more
plentiful in Idaho than near the Mormon settlements. In the early
days a regular small lumber industry began, which has continued
to grow till the present time. In Utah and Nevada conditions
were different. As soon as railroad connections with California
and the Northwest were established, lumber from the coast came
into use on account of both its higher quality and its lower price,
for by that time the most accessible stands in the intermountain
States had become greatly depleted by the excessive cutting of earlier
years.
PRODUCTION
The history of the lumber business in the intermountain region is
indicated by the lumber cut of Idaho, Utah, and Nevada since 1870,
as given in Table 1. It must be remembered that most of the Idaho
cut is in the northern part of the State, which is not included in the
intermountain region. In recent years about 80 per cent of the
Idaho cut has been outside the intermountain region.
TABLE 1.—Lumober cut for the States of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah
Thousand board feet Thousand board feet
Year Year :
Idaho! | Nevada Utah | Idaho! | Nevada Utah
i |
thy (ee ves aie ue | 1,490] 35, 025 LOW AAT lal GUD ieses nee eat 2 713,575 | — (2) 9, 055
TSS sete a eee eae = 18, 204 21, 545 PAS TCS DSS ee ee Sa ee a 652, 616 (2) 5, 403
TSOQS Soe See aia = oi Ee SOO tee | 14295 > || AO Panga ede Ve 5 763, 508 (2) 8, 680
SGU Ze ae es | 65, 331 725 ASA elOL haa s te Eee 777, 000 (3) 10, 892
PeLOQAR a Sse ee EP 5m | 211, 447 (2) T2863 Oa! | pl ONG eae eee ee 849, 600 (3) 9, 385
TOO SE aes OSes Rie oe! 212, 725 (2) \ SUG ISM lel Glee ceeetes eeeas 760, 000 (3) 8, 567
WOOO si tes a eee ATSIO4AT eee SAE 2 G(GS4|| LOLS see ae aa os Sey 802, 529 (3) 9, 815
Ibis Cee, Re ee 513, 788 (2) LAS GOON BLO 1G ete ea ee ets 765, 388 20, 335 11, 917
ROOR St sse sae een 518, 625 (2) 5S O59 F920 Seer eee 970, 000 (3) 7, 750
1h8 0 ahs ae ee oS ae 645, 800 (2) ADQNGSS Wig 2k es Se gs oe 542, 620 (2) 7, 689
OT Qh eee ex tect |S 745, 984 (2) | 1 EG Oe ee ee 857, 581 (3) 6, 827
ROU ody. oe ES Bee 765, 670 (2) | 10, 573 |
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1 Figures are for entire State. The Bureau of the Census makes no segregation of the northern Idaho
cut and the southern Idaho cut. Only the latter comes from the intermountain region, and at present -it
amounts to only about one-fifth of the State cut.
2 Included in “‘ All other States’’ in census reports.
3 Included with California in census reports.
50325 ° —25——2
8 Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
At the present time privately owned timberlands furnish the bulk
of the timber cut in the intermountain region. Only about 40,000,000
feet a year out of a total of approximately 200,000,000 feet come
from the national forests. In 1923 the greater part of the national-
forest cut was in Idaho and Wyoming, where it is steadily increas-
ing from year to year, largely because of the increasing use of lodge-
pole pine ties by the railroads. In western Idaho large lumbering
operations are developing in the stands of western yellow pine and
Douglas fir.
TIMBER RESOURCES OF THE INTERMOUNTAIN NATIONAL FORESTS
The national forests of the intermountain region contain nearly
38,000,000,000 board feet of timber, of which approximately 10,000,-
000,000 are Douglas fir, often known to the logger as “red pine,”
found chiefly in the forests of western Idaho, but extending over the
entire region. Eleven billion board feet are western yellow pine,
which occurs in large stands in western Idaho and southern Utah
and on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona. The lodgepole
pine, of which there is more than 7,000,000,000 board feet, is found
throughout the higher mountains of central and eastern Idaho and
in large stands through western Wyoming and the Uinta Mountains
of northern Utah. Engelmann spruce, of which the intermountain
region has about 4,000,000,000 board feet, is found throughout the
entire region on the higher mountains, where it grows to timber line.
Large stands are found in the Idaho National Forest in western
Idaho, in the Ashley National Forest among the high Uintah Moun-
tains, and in the Powell National Forest, on the high Aquarius Pla-
teau of south Utah. Alpine fir, of which the intermountain district
forests have more than 2,000,000,000 board feet, is an associate of
Engelmann spruce, having at present only a secondary commercial
value. Other species, making up about 3,000,000,000 board feet,
include larch found in western Idaho; limber pine, a tree of high
altitudes, especially common in Nevada; blue spruce; white fir,
known in Utah as black balsam; and others of even rarer occurrence.
There are also large areas of aspen timber, especially through Utah.
Aspen is generally unsuitable for saw timber; but the national for-
ests of this region contain nearly 7,000,000 cords of this wood suit-
able for use in the manufacture of such articles as paper, matches,
excelsior, and small boxes.
HOW TIMBER IS CUT ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS
The national forests are being managed in such a way as markedly
to increase their productivity. In order to permit the development
of a stable timber business, cutting will never be allowed to exceed
annual growth. The growth at present is estimated to be about
48,000,000 board feet a year, a rate far below that which may ulti-
mately be obtained under proper management. Many of the present
stands are old or overmature and are producing little in the way of
new growth, and others are so open that despite the rapid growth of
individual trees not much is produced. It is probable, though, that
ultimately the national forests of the intermountain region will be
in a position to supply not only all of the 300,000,000 board feet
,
ee ee ee ee
‘
National Forests and the iniermountain Region 9
which the region is now estimated to consume annually but consid-
erably more—perhaps even two or three times that amount.
The timber resources of the forests are conserved by the require-
ment that all salable timber shall be marked before lumbering
operations are begun and that certain precautions in the way of pro-
tecting young g erowth and removing slash be observed. In a region
where the fire risk is great, slash is ‘burned ; otherwise it is spread on
the ground so that it “will not interfere with young growth, but will
furnish added humus. A forest expert marks the ripe timber and
whatever other trees it is desirable from the point of view of the
forest’s productivity and welfare to have removed; and after public
advertisement, if $100 worth of timber or more is to be disposed of,
sale is made to the highest responsible bidder. Carefully planned
inspection assures full performance of contract agreements.
F-176290
Fic. 3.—Small sawmill, characteristic of the intermountain region, cutting lumber for
local trade
THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF NATIVE TIMBER
In the past it has been cheaper to get lumber from California and
the Northwest than to utilize native timber (fig. 3), but now the
prices of material from the coast are rapidly rising because the whole
Nation is looking to that limited region for much of its lumber.
Higher prices for coast lumber will have a tendency to make the
local timber of south Idaho, Utah, and Nevada gradually come back
into its own and occupy the important place it deserves in the
economic life of the region. At present it is far too easy to under-
estimate the immense value of timber resources in the region. It is
true that the timber is difficult to reach and is not of the best
quality; nevertheless, it is capable of wide use, and as time goes on
it is destined to replace much of the timber brought in from other
regions for low-grade construction and for various special purposes.
The railroads are already turning to local stands for their ties, and
the mining industry looks to local forests for its mine props, fre-
quently using trees which, on account of their size or quality, are
not suitable for any other purpose.
Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
10
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10. Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture National Forests and the Intermountain Region 11
Nationa Forests
Popucateo AREAS
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION
NATIONAL FORESTS
POPULATION
12 Miscellaneous Curcuiar 4,, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
An incident connected with the Targhee National Forest may be
referred to as typifying the change in attitude toward the value
of timber on the national forests of this region, which has come
about during the past 20 years. In 1905 some of the land which has
since become part of the Targhee National Forest was being con-
sidered for inclusion in the forest. Its inclusion was urged by one
of the prominent men of the region on the score that “the entire
region supports no industry but grazing .. .” and that “they [the
lands] are not valuable for lumber but are exceedingly valuable to
protect the very important streams. ...” Mention was also made
of the very limited amount of merchantable timber on the land,
most of it consisting of “inferior lodgepole pine, with occasional
bodies of red fir.” In 1924, from the forests consisting of such lands
as this, covered with “inferior lodgepole pine” and “ valuable only
for grazing,” sales of lumber reached a total of 66,327,000 board feet.
This was possible not because this amount of timber had grown dur-
ing the past 20 years, but because of the striking revision that had
taken place since 1905 in the idea of what timber is merchantable.
THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY
—
EARLY CONDITIONS ON THE RANGE
The earliest settlers in the intermountain region brought with
them their horses, cows, and other domestic animals. For a long
time they kept their stock on the ranches, a precaution necessary
because of the danger from Indians. As the Indian menace grew
less and less and finally became neghgible—about 1870 in Utah and
rather later in Idaho—the settlers began to turn their cattle out into
the adjacent mountain lands during the summer season, rounding
them up in the fall. With the opening of these public grazing areas
the sheep industry became increasingly important, and sheep herds
spread rapidly and widely through the mountains. Through Utah
and Nevada, where the mountain range lands were not distant from
settlements, the livestock business became very intensive, and the |
ranges were used by a great many more stock than was good for
them. In Idaho, where, in general, settlement came later and was
not so great, the number of stock was much smaller in proportion to
the mountain areas than in Utah, and such heavy utilization of the
range did not generally occur.
WHAT THE FOREST LANDS MEAN TO THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY
All through the region the mountain ranges have contributed im-
mensely to the prosperity of the livestock industry, allowing it to
grow to a much greater size than it possibly could if it were limited
all summer long to the valley lands in the vicinity of the ranches.
The latter course would necessitate the maintenance of much larger
pasture lands, which in turn would mean less land to be used for
the production of cultivated crops, a much more remunerative use.
According to the census of 1920, there are approximately 1,220,000
beef cattle and nearly 5,000,000 sheep in the intermountain region.
Upon the national forests of this region, which include a large part
but not all of the summer grazing lands, range 434,404 cattle, 2,821,-
308 sheep, and 20,651 horses, animals under 6 months old not being
National Forests and the Intermountain Region 13
counted. Allowing for this omission, it appears that about one-third
the cattle and one-half the sheep in the intermountain region summer
upon national forest range (fig. 4). Horses are, of course, very gen-
erally kept about ranches, and consequently the national forests sup-
port only about 5 per cent of the total.
The continued prosperity of this tremendous livestock business,
which brings into the intermountain region millions of dollars an-
nually, can be maintained only by proper management of the stock
on the range. Individual initiative and a desire to expand business
inevitably lead to the crowding and overstocking of any public
ranges the use of which is not regulated. At the time the national
forests were created many of the mountain forests of Utah had
already reached this condition. Range wars and unregulated com-
petition were ruining the range, while innumerable fires “to im-
prove the feed ” were playing their destructive role. Something had
already been done in the way of fire prevention by the Interior
F-164094
Fic. 4.—Sheep grazing within a national forest
Department; but as soon as the national forests were placed under
the administration of the Department of Agriculture, in 1905, steps
were everywhere taken to apply a system of management and fire
suppression, which aimed to conserve the forage and eventually
restore the productivity and stock-carrying capacity of the ranges.
The numbers of stock were gradually reduced where there were too
many, the ranges were divided into different allotments for differ-
ent owners, and the whole summer stock-raising business was placed
upon an orderly basis under Federal control.
DANGERS OF OVERGRAZING
Unregulated grazing has a far-reaching effect in this region, for
it not only means disaster to the livestock industry itself through
the depletion of the very range necessary to its prosperity, but also
threatens the agricultural prosperity of the valleys through the
destruction of the watershed cover (Fig. 5). Furthermore, over-
14 Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
grazing threatens the continuation of the timber stands; tiny trees
a year or two old may be trampled to death by the cattle and sheep
or nibbled and destroyed when very intensive grazing forces the
stock to eat every green thing on the range.
FOREST MANAGEMENT AS RELATED TO LIVESTOCK
At present the range of livestock industry is settled upon a basis
firmer than at any time in its history. Stock have been reduced
where necessary, so that no more are run on the range than can be
maintained there year after year without depleting the range re-
sources. At the same time inaccessible regions have been opened by
the construction of trails, bridges, and other improvements. Range
which was useless on account of lack of water has been made avail-
able for large numbers of livestock through the development of small
springs and seeps. Certain forests have had their flocks and herds
reduced as much as 30 per cent for certain classes of livestock in the
F-49888-A
iG. 5.—The result of overgrazing ; forage and watershed protection destroyed.
period 1909-1924. Sheep have decreased 137,325 head. However,
the national forests of the region as a whole now carry 93,870 more
cattle and horses than in 1909. As 1 head of cattle uses as much
forage as 4 sheep, this represents a real increase in carrying capacity ;
for these cattle and horses would be equivalent to 375,480 sheep.
The wise management of the national forest lands means every-
thing to the livestock business. Without it, summer grazing in the
mountains, the backbone of the livestock industry of the intermoun-
tain region, would be lost.
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
EXTENT OF DEVELOPMENT
One of the characteristics of the intermountain region is the
prevalence of electric light and power in all the small towns in the
vicinity of the mountains. The secret, of course, lies in the abund-
\
National Forests and the Intermountain Region 15
ance of water power derived from never-failing streams emerging
from the canyons. Utah alone has 61 power plants driven by water
power, and the development of this resource has scarcely begun.
Within the intermountain region it has been estimated that from
9,750,000 to 5,250,000 horsepower may be developed. Of this amount
approximately half is located within the national forests and the
remainder upon the larger rivers which have their origin in the
high mountain lands covered by the same forests.
DEPENDENCE ON FOREST COVER
Like irrigation projects, hydroelectrical development is greatly
hampered, if not impossible, on mud-laden, rock-carrying streams,
subject to floods every spring and after the summer thunderstorms
that break the periods of low water and drought. Rivers, like the
Snake, Bear, and others that drain large areas are, of course, not
so subject to difficulties of this kind as are the small streams run-
F-I2149-A
Fic. 6.—Municipal power plant in Logan Canyon, Cache National Forest, Utah
ning in short, steep, canyons, where a single fire or local overgraz-
_ ing may so destroy watershed values that economical hydroelectric
| power production becomes problematical.
In a single storm in 1923 which brought floods down both Wil-
lard and Farmington Canyons, the two small power plants at these
points were put out of commission by the rush of bowlders and
rocks borne along on the face of the floods. At Ephraim, Utah, ar-
rangements have been made so that in the spring, when the main
creek is muddy and full of sand and rocks, the power plant can use
clearer water from streams rising in well-vegetated brush lands.
Not until the summer comes on and these streams begin to dwindle
does this power plant use the water from the main creek. During
high water the dirty, sandy waters of the main creek wear out
bearings and water wheels much more rapidly than do the streams
of clear water from the well-protected watersheds.
Devastation of the mountains would put a damper on the hydro-
electric development of the intermountain region. Even moderate
16 Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
devastation, entirely within the bounds of possibility, would mean
difficult and costly operation for a vast number of small plants
scattered throughout the region and serving a multitude of small,
isolated communities. Small electrical plants, while they do a busi-
ness which may appear insignificant in comparison with the ae
F-173826
Fic, 7.—Elk wintering in Jackson Hole. Much of the elk mountain range is within the
Teton National Forest
power plants on the large rivers, play an important part in the life
of the intermountain region, supplying electric current to remote
towns and villages and giving them such modern conveniences as
electric lights, washing “machines, irons, vacuum clearners, and
motion pictures.
‘National Forests and the Intermountain Region 17
RECREATIONAL USE OF THE INTERMOUNTAIN NATIONAL
FORESTS
WILD-LIFE RESOURCES OF THE FORESTS
Who can state the value in dollars and cents of the fish to the
fisherman, or the wild game to the hunter? Scattered through the
national forests in this intermountain region are some 80,000 deer,
about 30,000 of them in the Kaibab Forest, in northern Arizona. The
Teton is famous for its elk, and it is estimated that close to 9,000 of
these splendid animals range upon that forest. Many have been
transplanted, and at the present time elk are scattered over the
greater part ‘of the national forests of the region. One herd of elk
planted on the section of the Uinta Forest centering around Mount
Nebo is estimated at approximately 800 head. Moose are rare, being
limited to about 2,000 ranging close to Yellowstone National Park
F-153470
Fic. 8.—Planting fish in a trout stream on a national forest
upon the Teton and Targhee Forests. Mountain goats, also, are
rare. Probably some 2,000 of them dwell among the high, almost
inaccessible mountain peaks of central Idaho. Mountain sheep are
about as numerous, but are scattered very widely over the forests of
the region.
While the management and control measures affecting this game
rests with the States, the Forest Service cooperates heartily with
the State officials in enforcing the game laws, planting fish, and pre-
venting trespass upon areas set aside for game. Within the national
forests of this region are 25 State and Federal game refuges com-
prising 4,600,000 acres. In addition the Forest Service itself has
set_aside over 600,000 acres primarily for the production of game.
Forest fires, destructive lumbering, and overgrazing would spell
ruin to these wild life resources. The maintenance of the forest
assures their preservation.
18 Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
IMPROVEMENTS
Recreational use of the forests has been systematized by setting
aside public camp grounds and furnishing them with conveniences,
and by leasing at nominal rentals summer-home and camp sites,
reserving special scenic vantage points for the enjoyment of all the
public. Better roads, besides aiding in fire suppression, opening
up new areas, and making possible better utilization of the material
resources of the forests, have made it easier for the public to take
advantage of the recreational resources.
SS ve
AMET KI P21 aos
ee Se
F-182623
Fic. 9.—Enjoying the national forest, near the summit of Mount Hyndman, the highest
peak in Idaho (elevation 12,078 feet), on the Sawtooth-Lemhi Forest boundary |
ae.
FOREST VISITORS BRING BUSINESS TO THE REGION
Outfitting, guiding, and managing parties of tourists through the
more interesting portions of the national forests are becoming well-
recognized lines of business in southern Utah. On the Dixie Na-
tional Forest are located the Cedar Breaks, a magnificient canyon
head of red rock specially attractive to sightseers. Bryce Canyon
on the Powell National Forest, with its myriad pinnacles of white
i het
é
Beis 1. & aed
«
National Forests and the Intermountain Region 19
and red sandstone, and the Kaibab National Forest, with its great
herds of deer, also appeal to many visitors. The “ dude ranches ”
ef Jacksons Hole, surrounded by the Teton National Forest, are
nationally known. The business connected with the recreational
activities adds materially to the prosperity of the region.
DIRECT FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS
TO THE COUNTIES
Not only do the national forests contribute indirectly to the
prosperity of nearly every county in the intermountain region;
they also yield a good direct return each year in hard cash, a con-
tribution that increases automatically as the utilization of forest
resources increases.
When the national forests were created and the lands so embraced
were forever removed from the tax rolls, Congress realized the
burden that was thus imposed on the counties in which the national
forests were located. In order to rectify matters it specified that
25 per cent of the gross receipts of the national forests should revert
to the county,in lieu of taxes, stipulating that the sums were to be
used for roads and schools. Thus, out of every dollar which the
Forest service takes in through the sale of forest products, whether
lumber or grazing, or by leasing land for special uses, 25 cents is
returned to the county in which the expenditure is made. In the
intermountain region the annual receipts from the national forests
total nearly $700,000, and accordingly some $175,000 reverts to the
different counties.
The counties receiving the largest contributions are, as a rule,
not the richer but rather the sparsely settled and more remote coun-
ties, to which these receipts mean a great deal. In 1922 Custer
County, Idaho, received over $4,000; Elko County, Nev., over $6,000;
Lincoln County Wyo., nearly $7,000. Receipts in 1922 were subnor-
mal, but in 1923 the above amounts were almost doubled. The pro-
tection and full utilization of national-forest resources means not
only the prosperity of the counties adjacent to the national forests,
but greater direct returns to the county treasury for the improve-
ment of roads and schools.
In addition to the 25 per cent already mentioned, another 10 per
cent of the gross receipts from the national forests is spent by the
Forest Service within the State in which it is collected to build roads
and trails upon the national forests. Some of the most useful
mountain roads in the intermountain region have been constructed
from this so-called 10 per cent money. In Utah the road from
Kamas to Stockmore across the Uinta Forest was financed by these
funds, as well as a large part of the road from Ephraim to Orange-
ville, across the Manti Forest. In Idaho the road along the South
Fork of the Payette River, which opens up an extensive and valu-
able forest region on the headwaters of the Payette, was financed
by 10 per cent money. Anything, therefore, that increases the
receipts of the national forests means an increase in road and trail
building. This, in turn, means accessibility for the resources in the
distant mountains and more pleasure for the recreationist. It also
means greater efficiency on the pert of the Forest Service in pro-
tecting these vast areas from fires and other possible destruction.
20 Miscellaneous Circular 47, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
WHAT THE PUBLIC CAN DO TO HELP PROTECT THE FORESTS
COOPERATION OF PRIVATE OWNERS
Through well-considered regulation national forests are being
brought to a high degree of usefulness in timber production, water-
shed protection, and utilization of grazing and other resources.
There are, however, great areas of mountain lands in the inter-
mountain region similar to the national-forest lands but not in-
cluded within their boundaries. It remains, therefore, for the
owners of such forest and mountain grazing lands as lie outside
the national forests to assist in preserving and increasing the
wealth of the region by applying to their lands such principles of
forestry and range management as have proven valuable in their
application to the national forests. Some owners are already doing
this.
Arousing private owners not already alert is a desirable action in
which all well-wishers of the forest can take part. Public opinion
properly fostered will sooner or later ‘crystallize in the hoped-for
cooperation. The application of sound principles of management
of mountain lands would not only increase the prosperity of the
region and minimize the ever-present dangers that result from de-
vastation of mountain lands, but would also aid in the application
of these principles to adjoining national-forest lands and appreciably
sunplify many administrative problems.
FIRE PREVENTION
Especially urgent is the obligation resting on all national-forest
users to exercise every precaution that will safeguard all the re-
sources of the forest. This means, above all, being careful with
fire. Such care is imperative, because the match or cigarette that
seems to be out and the dead-looking camp fire sometimes start
dangerous fires that may not be noticed until they have gained
considerable headway. Of the 500 forest fires a year in the inter-
mountain region, half are the result of human carelessness.
DANGERS OF BRUSH FIRES
Brush fires are not the harmless things many people consider them.
Not only are they lkely to extend to valuable timber, but they
destroy watershed cover and in many instances hundreds of little
trees not yet visible above the brush. They also destroy the scenic
charm of the surroundings and form open spaces, which although
small in extent are sometimes sufficient with thunderstorms bursting
upon them to bring about disastrous floods in the small, steep can-
yons characteristic of this region.
CARE OF CAMP GROUNDS
Campers are especially urged to refrain from leaving trash or tin
cans or anything that tends to deface the camp grounds or diminish
the beauty of the surroundings. Hacking trees indiscriminately to
obtain bed boughs should be avoided, as should also carving initials
on trees and everything that renders the forest less attractive to the
National Forests and the Intermountain Region 21
next comer. As a matter of self-protection as well as out of con-
sideration for others, the insanitary practices often indulged in by a
thoughtless public should be discontinued.
SUMMARY
Though the prosperity of the intermountain region appears super-
ficially to belong entirely to the valleys, it is to a remarkable extent
derived from the forest-covered mountains. The development of
the fur trade, irrigated farming, the lumber industry, the greater
part of the livestock industry, the hydroelectric-power industry, and
public recreation—the activities which contribute most to the pros-
perity and happiness of the intermountain region—are traceable
directly to the wood, water, and forage supphed by the mountains;
and the continuance of these activities, as well as their further de-
velopment, necessitates the perpetuation of at least as much forest
cover as the mountains now have.
Destroy this vegetation, and though the mountains continued to
stand there—bare masses of rock and earth—they would fail to per-
form their mission of contributing to the wealth of the region. In-
stead of continuing to be prosperous, the intermountain region
would degenerate into an American counterpart of the Chinese
hinterland, where floods, famine, and poverty have followed close in
the train of the devastation of the mountains.
It is vastly easier to preserve forests and the cover of grass and
weeds than to renew them when once destroyed. It is not necessary
to go so far as China for proof of the disastrous effects of deforesta-
tion, for there are limited areas in the western part of the United
States which demonstrate it. In a semiarid climate, nature can heal
wounds upon the mountains only slowly. In the meantime erosion
and destruction go on more and more rapidly all the time, so that
the forces of reconstruction wage a losing fight against them. It is
therefore imperative that forest visitors, private forest owners, and
the general public cooperate whole-heartedly in working for the
perpetuation of the intermountain forests.
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