MANAGE^IEXT OF WESTERN YELLOW PIXE L\ THE 

 SOUTHWEST. 



By Barrington Moore. 



The Region. 



The largest continuous body of pine in the world is found in 

 the Southwest, in Arizona and New Mexico, covering the Colo- 

 rado Plateau. This body is of western yellow pine (Pinus pon- 

 derosa), and is of immense importance for timber production and 

 watershed protection ; the management of this forest is a cor- 

 respondingly large and important problem. A brief sketch of the 

 region is essential for a proper understanding of this problem and 

 its solution. 



The rainfall is from 20 to 30 inches, most of which comes in 

 July and August in the form of thunder showers. The begin- 

 ning of the growing season, April and Alay, is generally very dry, 

 and hence unfavorable to tree growth. Early frosts in the 

 autumn and late frosts in the spring kill a considerable number of 

 the yellow pine seedlings. 



The region is, in general, a plateau of approximately 7,000 to 

 8,000 feet elevation, cut deeply by streams but not yet thoroughly 

 dissected. Occasional volcanic cones, such as San Franasio Peak 

 near FlagstaflF, Arizona, rise out of the plateau to a height of 

 sometimes 14,000 feet. On other parts of the plateau are block 

 uplifts, from 10,000 to 12,000 feet in elevation, precipitous on 

 one side and sloping gently on the other. The gentle slopes are, 

 however, generally deeply cut into by streams. The result of this 

 topography is an extraordinary combination of logging conditions. 

 Parts of the plateau, notably the Coconino National Forest in the 

 vicinity of Flagstaff, Arizona, offer throughout an exceptionally 

 easy proposition ; other parts offer easy logging conditions, but no 

 outlet except by flumes or by roads which would be difficult to 

 build ; while still other parts are both difficult to log and practically 

 impossible to access. 



The market is composed of small scattered communities de- 

 pendent on irrigation, grazing, and mining. It can not, for the 



