WHAT IS A NATIONAL FOREST? 



739 



fighting equipment. Proba])ly tlie nK)St 

 unique fire lookout station in existence 

 is located on the summit of Devil's 

 Head, a rocky peak lifting its head ten 

 thousand feet above sea level. From 

 this pinnacle the lookout man, station- 

 ed there during the summer month.^ 

 commands a view of three-fourths of 

 the entire Forest, or more than a mil- 

 lion acres of valuable timber. Located 

 on the very suniiuit is a tele])h()ne, while 

 at the base of the huge rocks that crown 

 the mountain a camp is estaljlished for 

 the lookout. A small cabin is also built 

 on the summit of the peak to house the 

 telephone and to shelter the lookout in 

 case of storm. On the topmost rock, 

 with a sheer fall of one thousand feet 

 on three sides, a table containing a mnp 

 of the Forest is bolted into tlie solid 

 granite, by the aid of which the fire 

 lookout is able to locate any fires aris- 

 ing on that portion of the forest within 

 view of the station. 1 le can then com- 

 municate by telephone with the office 

 of the Forest Supervisor at Denver, 

 thirty miles distant in an air line. This, 

 itself, is a remarkable illustration of 

 how modern developments may be 



found in supposedly inaccessible re- 

 gions. 



All land within the boundaries of the 

 National Forests is not government 

 land. In order to e.xjjlain the broken 

 up condition witliin the Forests take 

 for instance a single tnwnslii]) in the 

 I 'ike National Forest, a portion of the 

 township is alienated from the Pike 

 Forest and comprises state and private 

 lands following the line of the Colo- 

 rado and Midland Railroad, many of 

 which were purchased from the gov- 

 ernment before the creation of the For- 

 est. Those that were not so i)urchased 

 are for the most part patented home- 

 steads. 



This is typical of the condition ex- 

 isting to greater or less extent through- 

 out all of the National Forests. Hun- 

 dreds of streams flowing through the 

 Forest are studded on either side with 

 agricultural homesteads; in countless 

 small draws and ra\ines, in open parks, 

 and in fact wherever lands are capable 

 of producing crops and are more val- 

 uable for that than for forestry pur- 

 poses, they are (jpen to homestead en- 

 try. These alienations api)ly not only 



f i 



i»' 





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A Forest Homestead. 



THE RESIDENCE, BARNS AND OTHER BUILDINliS OF A PROSPEROUS HOMESTEADER ON A NATIONAL FOREST. 



