FOREST ROADS AND TRAILS 



501 



A ROAD ON THE GILA NATIONAL FOREST. NEW MEXICO. WHICH COST 



$466.00 PER MILE. 



FOREST ROADS AND TRAILS 



Ernest Wohlenberg* 



XX the past the construction of 

 forest roads and trails was in 

 the hands of individuals and 

 private concerns and for that reason 

 very little literature was published 

 and only a small amount of data 

 was collected. During the past few 

 years the United States Forest Service 

 has done a great deal of work in the 

 development of the forests of the west, 

 part of which consisted in building roads 

 and trails. The development atid pro- 

 tection of any forest region under for- 

 estry principles depends upon its ac- 

 cessibility, which means that roads or 

 trails are necessary. Under the old 

 methods of lumbering the land was dev- 

 astated of its good timber or cut clean 

 with no thought of the future, but now 

 economic conditions have changed. The 

 price of stumpage, the growing scarcity 

 of standing timber and the common- 

 sense conservation policies all demand 

 better protection and closer utilization 

 of the forest, and in order to obtain this 

 the woods must be opened up by roads 

 and trails. The immense forest fires in 

 the Northwest during the summer of 



1910 indicate one great necessity of 

 having the forest accessible. 



The search for material for this 

 article has extended over the entire 

 country, but very little literature could 

 be found. X^aluable information has 

 been taken from notes on Professor 

 Chapman's lectures at Yale University 

 and from W. E. Herring's lectures given 

 at the State University of Washington. 

 An attempt was made to collect specific 

 examples of roads and trails which have 

 been built in all the different forest 

 regions of the United States, but it was 

 impossible to obtain information from 

 some of the regions. 



USES OP TRAILS 



Trails are for the use of the general 

 j^ublic and of forest officers. The first 

 trails on the present forests in diff'erent 

 parts of the country were built mostly 

 bv miners, homesteaders and stockmen. 

 These trails were used entirely by the 

 general public, and in this way the 

 country was partially oi)ened up and 

 developed. The main ol)ject in build- 



