WHAT IS A NATIONAL FOREST? 



j^v T. W. Venemann. 



S(> MUCH (li>cussion an;l corn 

 inent has been published in re- 

 cent years relative to fed- 

 eral control and administra- 

 tion of the National Forests that there 

 are comparatively few people in the 

 United States today who do not have 

 some knowledge, at least, of the exist- 

 ence, location, and purposes of these 

 forests. While it is i)retty generally 

 understood that they are large bodies 

 of mountainous, timbered lands con- 

 trolled by the government for the pur- 

 pose of protecting and preserving the 

 resources of the forests, there are many 

 persons who have but a very vague idea 

 of what C(5nstitutes a Xational Forest, 

 •or, in other words, what is its physical 

 make up and appearance. 



Probably the general impression held 

 by many who have never seen or liad 

 any business dealings on them is. that 

 they are immense bodies of heavy tim- 

 ber stretching for miles and miles along 



the mountain slopes, for the most part 

 uninhabitajjle and undeveloped. i his 

 impression although erroneous is quite 

 natural for the reason that the name 

 National Forest itself implies large 

 bodies of timber, while in the general 

 presentation of forestry topics they 

 are usually referred to collectively, or 

 as individual forest units. It would be 

 surprising to many, then, to know how 

 much similarity actually exists between 

 the developments on the National For- 

 ests and those in other parts of the 

 states in which they are located. 



If the reader will examine a map of 

 Colorado, he will notice that, although 

 the entire western half of the state is 

 traversed by heavy mountain ranges, 

 towns and settlement", are as thickly 

 scattered throughout this section as on 

 the more open and level portions (if the 

 state. This fact is significant for the 

 reason that these same mountains are 

 also occupied by fourteen and a half 



Placer Mining. 



this oper-xtion is ne.\r h.xbiss pe.\k on tiie routt nation.vl forest !n color^vdo and shows how sections 



of national forests are used as mining cl.\ims. 



735 



