1508 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



WHAT WATER WILL DO. (1777/— WULRE THE ORAXGES GROW 



The orange groves and other irrigated lands in the foreground obtain their water from tlic 

 mountains in the background, which are included in the Angeles National Forest, California. 

 At the lower elevations these mountains are covered with a dense growth of brush, or 

 chaparral, while at the higher elevations are forests of western yellow pine, Jeffrey pine, 

 ami other trees. The value of citrus fruits produced in the eight southernmost counties 

 of California in 1914 is estimated by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to have been 

 $33,000,000. 



used to irrigate these 13,200,000 acres, 

 wliether it conies froiii surface streams and 

 lakes or from underground sources, has its 

 nrii^iii in the mountains where tlie National 

 I'orests are located. Obviously, not all of 

 this mountain area is forested, nor is all of 

 the forested area under Federal ownership. 

 .\t the same time, the National Forests in- 

 clude a large part of the area from whicli 

 the liulk of the irrigation water is derived, and 

 must therefore exert an important influence 

 on the amount and character of the supply. 

 No figures are available as to the exact 

 value added to these lands by the application 

 of water, but it unquestionably runs into 

 ihe hundreds of millions of dollars. Without 

 water much of this area would be practically 

 worthless, and the value even of that portion 

 ini which dry farming is feasible would be 

 greatly reduced. In the vicinity of Salt Lake 

 City, Utah, for example, irrigated lands de- 

 riving their water from the Wasatch National 

 Forest are valued at from $100 to $1,000 per 

 acre, with an average of probably $400 per 

 acre ; while land without water in the same 

 district, except where it requires drainage, is 

 Provo, Utah ; Phoenix, Arizona, and Fresno and River- practically valueless. Near Los Angeles, California, unim- 

 side, California, all of which are in the center of ex- proved lands with water rights are worth from $200 

 tremely productive sections, have an annual precipitation to $500 per acre, while bearing orange or lemon groves 

 of less than 15 inches with an annual evaporation from a may be valued at $3,000 or even more per acre. What 

 free water surface at least three or four times as much, the water supply protected by the Angeles National Forest 



As a natural consequence of 

 the difference in amount of pre- 

 cipitation in the mountains and 

 at the lower elevations, the 

 former are generally forested 

 and the latter treeless. The Na- 

 tional Forests, of course, are 

 located in the mountains, where 

 the trees are. From the brush- 

 covered foothills of the .San 

 Jacinto and San Bernardino 

 Mountains in southern Cali- 

 fornia to the magnificent Doug- 

 las fir forests of the Olympic 

 AlouiUains in northern Washing- 

 ton, and from the pinon and 

 juniper stands of the southern 

 Rockies in New Mexico to the 

 pine forests of the northern 

 Rockies in Montana and Idaho, 

 the mountains and the National 

 Forests coincide. 



An intimate relation exists be- 

 tween the National Forests and 

 irrigated lands throughout the 

 West. At least 85 per cent, and 

 very likely more, of the water 





IVITHOUT—W'UKRK THE AG.WES GROW 

 Semi-desert land near Silver City, New Mexico, now used during part of the year as stock range. 



irrigation were possilile many of the desert areas throughout the West could be converted i 

 agricultural land. Water, rather than soil, is frequently the decisive factor in determinin 



If 

 to fertile 



cultivation is practicable. 



g whether 



