510 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



NATIONAL FOREST ROADS. 



The road systems of the national forests are (dosely allied with 

 those of the States and the Forest Road Program may be looked 

 upon as forming an integral part of the general road j^lan of the 

 West. Due to tlie fact tliat the forest areas lie along the mountain 

 summits, they contain the passes through which the important 

 trunk highways must cross the mountain ranges, and as a conse- 

 quence many forest road projects are links in imi)ortant State and 

 national highways. Within tlie forests are approximately 15,000 

 miles of roads which form connecting links for State and county 

 highway systems. Over these roads the traffic from the commu- 

 nities adjacent to the forests must pass. The transportation of 

 forest products, the protection and administration of the forests 

 themselves, and the utilization of these national areas for recrea- 

 tional purposes are all dependent upon these roads. The improve- 

 ment of these roads and the construction of a supplementary system 

 of protection roads constitutes the national forest road j)roject. 

 Forest road improvement should keep pace with the general high- 

 way development in the West, and the closest study should be given 

 the subject of correlation of road activities. 



The forest road construction program has been affected by the 

 shortage of labor and high prices and to some extent by the difficulties 

 of rail transportation. Lack of materials and transportation have 

 not seriously retarded the work for the reason that imported materials 

 are not extensively used on the forest roads. Delivery of structural 

 and reinforcing steel and of metal culverts has been slow and to some 

 extent has hampered the construction work. 



The lack of sufficient and suitable equipment mentioned in the 

 report for the fiscal year 1919 has also retarded the work this year to 

 some extent. Some excellent road-building equipment has been 

 transferred to the bureau from the War Department, but unfortu- 

 nately much of this was not received early enough to permit its use 

 this year. Three steam shovels were obtained in time to be used 

 several months on the Berthoud Pass and Mount Evans projects in 

 Colorado. This equipment will remain on these projects for another 

 season at least and will result in a more rapid completion of the work. 

 Both of these projects reach an elevation of 11,000 feet, and labor 

 is difficult to secure. The bureau still finds itself in need of consid- 

 erably more road-building equipment in order to continue the pro- 

 gram"^ of construction and provide for a systematic plan of main- 

 tenance. Our more important needs for this work are small steam 

 shovels, stone crushing and screening machinery, tractors, road 

 graders, motor trucks of less than 1-ton capacity, light passenger 

 motor vehicles, and shop equipment for repair purposes. 



The use of War Department TNT on our construction work has 

 been the means of eftecting substantial savings in the cost of our 

 projects. It has been found that this material is well suited for our 

 purposes and contractors as well as our own superintendents are 

 well pleased with the results obtained by its use. 



It has been found necessary to expand our activities in the matter 

 of handling work bv departm"ent forces. The bureau has been reluc- 

 tant to do this, but the lack of experienced contractors in some 

 localities, the remoteness of our work, and the attendant difficulties 



