Forest Reserves as Game Preserves 



lava cover large tracts, usually overlaid with soil, 

 on which the forest flourishes. 



The entire northern side of this section is bordered 

 by the sloping grassy plains of the Little Colorado, 

 which at their upper border have an elevation of 

 6,500 to 7,500 feet, and are covered here and there 

 with pirions, cedars and junipers, especially along 

 the sides of the canons and similar slopes. At the 

 upper border of this belt the general slope becomes 

 abruptly mountainous, and rises to 8,000 or 8,500 

 feet to a broad bench-like summit, from which ex- 

 tends back the elevated plateau country already men- 

 tioned. This outer slope of the plateau is covered 

 with a fine belt of yellow pine forests, similar in char- 

 acter to that found in the northern part of the re- 

 serve. Owing to the more abrupt character of the 

 northerly slope of this belt, and its greater humidity, 

 the forest is more varied by firs and aspens, especially 

 along the caiions, than is the case further north. 

 Here and there along the upper tributaries of the 

 Little Colorado, small valleys open out, which are 

 frequently wooded and contain beautiful mountain 

 parks. 



The summit of the elevated plateau country about 

 the headwaters of the Little Colorado and Black 

 rivers (which is known locally as the "Big Mesa"), 

 is an extended area of rolling grassy plain, entirely 

 surrounded by forests and varied irregularly by 

 wooded ridges and points of timber. This open plain 

 extends in a long sweep from a point a few miles 

 south of Springerville westward for about fifteen 

 miles along the top of the divide to the bases of 



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