THE LANDS OF UTAH. 
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destroyed by fire, as explained in a former chapter. Doubtless, if fires 
could be prevented, the treeless areas would in due time be again covered 
with forests, but in such a climate forest growth is slow. At present, the 
treeless areas will afford valuable summer pasturage for cattle, and doubtless 
such pasturage would be advantageous to the growth of new forests, by 
keeping down the grasses in which in part the fires spread. It has already 
been shown that, to a great extent, the fires which destroy the forests are set 
by Indians while on their hunting excursions. The removal of the Indians 
from the country will further protect the forests Eventually, the better 
class of timber lands will fall into the hands of individual owners, who 
will be interested in protecting their property from devastation by this 
fierce element. By all of these means the standing timber will be preserved 
for economic uses; but it will be a long time before complete immunity 
from fires will be secured. 
The demand for lumber will never be very great. A variety of causes 
conspire to this end. The adjacent country will sustain but a small agri- 
cultural population, because the irrigable lands are of limited extent. The 
people of the lowlands will eventually supply themselves with fuel by culti- 
vating timber along the water courses and by using the coal so abundant in 
some portions of Utah. The lumber will never be carried to a foreign 
market because of the expense of transportation: first, it will be expensive 
to get it down from the highlands to the lowlands, and, second, there are 
no navigable streams by which lumber may be cheaply transported from 
the country. In general, the lumber is of inferior quality, and cannot suc- 
cessfully compete for a permanent place in the markets of the world. But 
there will be a demand for lumber for building and feneing purposes in the 
valleys, and for mining purposes in the mountains. 
If the timber region can be protected from fire, the supply of timber 
will equal the demand. 
From the brief description given aboye, it will be seen that the timber 
region will never support agriculture. Much of it is mountainous and 
inhospitable, and the climate is cold. The timber region is ever to be such; 
mining industries will slightly encroach on it on the one hand, and 
pasturage industries on the other, but Iumbermen will control the country. 
