PIXOX-JUXIPER LAXD PROBLEM 



535. 



The chief present use, because it is shared by more people, is that 

 of grazing. The stock industry is recognized as the leading activity 

 of the southwestern part of the State. In the San Miguel and Dolores 

 valleys cattle are raised almost exclusively. The climate of the average 

 year is such that stockmen graze steers and the hardier cows through- 

 out the winter. White sage and grama grass, both excellent winter 

 feeds, and the protection of the low crowned pinons and junipers com- 

 bine to make an unusually valuable range for cattle. In the Uncom- 

 pahgre and Gunnison valleys the sheepmen and cattlemen divide the use 

 of the lands about equally. Due to overgrazing, chiefly by nomadic 

 sheep in the past, the value of these lands in the valleys just mentioned 

 is not as high as that on the western side of the Forest. 



Second in importance is the use of the forest cover for fence posts. 

 Good post material is becoming scarce. Evidence of this is the neces- 

 sity for going farther back each year and reconnoitering quite a little 

 to locate suitable trees. The value of juniper for fence posts is not 

 questioned. The value is generally recognized, which accounts for the 

 extensive shipments made and being made from time to time. 



Of almost equal importance, and surely of equal z'aliie locally is that 

 of the fuel secured from the pinon and juniper. The free use privilege 

 exercised by so many indicates the extensive demand for fuel by 

 settlers in the valleys. The rapidly diminishing accessible supply of 

 fuelwood in "the Cedars"' accounts. in a large measure for the demand 

 made upon the Forest Service for the fuel at the higher elevations. 



The agricultural use of these lands is growing less and less, and 

 was not included in the distinct uses mentioned above. Only moder- 

 ately successful farming is possible and then under the best conditions. 

 It is true that in the canons cut into the sandstone formation, where 

 conditions are most favorable there are some very good ranches. On 

 the typical pinon-juniper lands — the mesas — the farming can be made 

 successful enough to maintain a family in food and clothing provided 

 there is sufficient water for irrigation. Some of the larger parts have 

 been settled by a group of people interested jointly in an irrigation 

 project. For the period of sufficient water their crops do well, but 

 the water is not sufficient for the season and they have all the water 

 available, unless a reservoir is constructed and the expense of that 

 is such that there is not enough of the pinon-juniper land bordering 

 the valley to justify the effort. Dry farming is out of the question. 



