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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



extending from yellow pine to Engel- 

 mann spruce. Grazing is limited upon 

 the area. Reached by auto from Flor- 

 ence. (D. & R. G. W. R. R.) 10 mi. 



Spanish Peaks State Game Refuge. 

 Contains 75,416 acres, extending from 

 the foothills type up to the Spanish Peaks 

 elevation 13,600 ft. Game is also being 

 protected upon the Sangre de Cristo 

 Grant just west of the Refuge; large 

 herd of bison under enclosure. Reached 

 from La Veta by auto. Summer hotels 

 within the Refuge. 



City of Trinidad Watershed. 10,000 

 acres on North Fork of the Purgatory, 

 and within the Spanish Peaks Game 

 Refuge. Heavy fires occurred in early 

 days. Wild turkeys are found. Graz- 

 ing limited. Reached from La Veta (a) 

 25 mi. Summer hotel 5 mi. from 

 watershed. 



San Juan National Forest {Colorado) 



The forest is 5% burned and 5% cut- 

 over. The pine timber near Pagosa 

 Springs has for years been the center 

 of an important lumber industry. 



Animals consist of deer, bear, bighorn 

 sheep; grouse are fairly plentiful; 

 native trout in nearly all streams. 



The Needle Mountains are very rough 

 and inaccessible. The summits of four 

 of the peaks are over 14,000 ft. in eleva- 

 tion, while 6000 ft. below Animas River 

 rushes through a canyon which separates 

 the West Needles from the main group. 

 A large portion of these mountains is 

 above timber-line. The area is so 

 broken that domestic stock cannot be 

 profitably grazed on it, and the timber, 

 consisting principally of Engelmann 

 spruce, may be preserved in its natural 

 condition without sacrifice or expense. 

 Reached from Needleton, a station 35 

 mi. north of Durango on Silverton 

 . branch of D. & R. G. W. All arrange- 

 ments should be completed before 

 leaving Durango. 



The Durango Reservoir Grant, 3050 

 acres of natural forest land is approxi- 

 mately 32 mi. northeast of Durango 



on the headwaters of the Florida River. 

 This area can be reached only by saddle 

 horse or on foot, this inaccessibility 

 comprising its principal virtue for 

 purposes of nature study. Information 

 should be obtained and arrangements 

 made at Durango. 



Uncompahgre National Forest (Colorado) 



The larger part of the forest is on the 

 Uncompahgre Plateau, which rises 

 gently to the south from the Uncom- 

 pahgre-Gunnison valley, then breaks 

 off more abruptly to the San Miguel- 

 Dolores valley on the south. 



The plateau changes gradually from a 

 pinyon-juniper or desert type on the 

 north edge to a fair yellow pine forest 

 with increasing elevation, then through 

 Douglas fir to very excellent spruce. 

 The fir forest, however, is represented 

 only by remnants and occupied largely 

 by aspen. A striking characteristic 

 of the middle-lower zone, especially on 

 the south escarpment, is the prevalence 

 of oak-brush. 



The Ouray Mountain Sheep and Elk 

 Refuge (1923) covers 40 sq. mi. Several 

 hundred mountain sheep are fed by the 

 people of Ouray each winter. Arrange- 

 ments made to plant elk during 1922-23. 

 Ouray (D. & R. G. W. R. R.) from 

 Montrose, is in center of area. Travel 

 from Ouray by horseback; stables, 

 hotels, ranger. 



White River National Forest (Colorado) 



The forest is 1% cut-over and 5% 

 burned. There is a heavy belt of 

 Engelmann spruce under rim of flat- 

 tops, with some lodgepole pine at lower 

 elevations. Small bodies of Douglas 

 fir are found in gulches and a body of 

 yellow pine on South Derby Mesa. 



The following game refuges are such 

 only by exclusion of domestic stock: 



Elk range of about 5000 acres around 

 Sleepy Cat Peak. Elk on this range 

 throughout the summer. Reached via 

 Yampa, also from Meeker, inland town, 

 45 mi. from Rifle (D. & R. G. W. R. R.) 



