54-i . JOURNAL OF FORK^'TKV 



Hoffman, these broad rolling mesas, when irrigated, are well adapted 

 to the growing of fruit, grain, and alfalfa. The pinon and juniper 

 land when cleared is more productive than the sagebrush land and 

 some of the best farms of the region were, a few years ago, covered 

 with scrubby timber. 



Since the early settlement of that country, the woodland types have 

 been considered a hindrance rather than an aid to colonization and 

 as a result, local custom has decreed that pinon and juniper lands are 

 not timber lands in the broad sense of the term. 



A great deal of the agricultural land was patented under the Desert 

 Land Laws, as was proper since it was valueless for that purpose 

 without expensive irrigation systems. Timberlands are not subject 

 to entry under the Desert Land Laws and the Department of the 

 Interior has held that pinon and juniper lands are not timberlands 

 within the meaning of the law, thus bearing out the contentions of the 

 early settlers and establishing a precedent. 



In my opinion, the stand was well taken. Any other policy would 

 have retarded if not prevented settlement and development. I believe 

 that any man who has visited the prosperous Mormon settlements of 

 the Southwest will agree with me. 



The problem of classification as suggested by Hoffman is more com- 

 plicated here than it is on the lands now within the Forest. 



The limitations imposed by climate at the higher elevations do not 

 apply here. While the settler on the pinon- juniper lands must face 

 many adverse conditions, they are not impossible to overcome as is 

 the case with an unfavorable climate and a very short growing season 

 in the mountains. With water for irrigation success is assured now, 

 and who can forecast the future, with the prospects for better methods 

 of farming, new crops better adapted to conditions, and gigantic irriga- 

 tion enterprises which it holds in store. 



While the agricultural value of these land may be low, can we show 

 a real forest value as we can on the National Forests? 



I doubt if the woodland type has any protective value excei)t as it 

 affects erosion and the timber, if we must call it timber, is of poor 

 quality and its prospective commercial value is not high. Even if 

 we could classify the land and segregate all the irriga])le parts as 

 suggested by Hoffman, what would we have left? Hoffman states 

 that in the part he is familiar with, almost all of the level areas and 

 the stream valleys have been or are being farmed. 



