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I AMERICAN FORESTRY I 



VOL. XXIV 



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JANUARY 1918 



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MAN-MADE PLAYGROUNDS 



BY C. J. BLANCHARD 



STATISTICIAN, UNITED STATES RECLAMATION SERVICE 



NO. 289 



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rlE West has so much to offer in the way of beautiful 

 and inspiring scenery that additions to the infinite 

 variety of its natural attractions seem almost super- 

 fluous. Its countless lakes, snow-capped peaks, stupen 

 dous canons, spouting geysers, tumbling cataracts, pri- 

 meval forests, broad vistas of silent desert, and innum- 

 erable ruins of a civilization older than written history, 

 constitute a galaxy of unrivaled allurement and charm. 

 A lifetime is all too brief to acquaint oneself with the 

 work a master hand has wrought in the great West. Man, 

 however, has not hesitated to try his skill against the 

 forces of nature in the conquest of aridity, and in so do- 



ing has added here and there a number of gems to the 

 sum total of our western wonderland. The "Home of 

 Great Silence" now pulsates with life. Quickened by the 

 magic of stored waters the ashen wastes have changed to 

 green fields and blossoming orchards. The engineer has 

 wrought better than he knew. While the controlling 

 thought which directed his labor was to give the Desert 

 to drink, it has so happened that he has given the people 

 a playground which invites the husbandman and his fam- 

 ily to rest and recreation in the intervals between his 

 heavy labors in the fields. Gradually with the lessen- 



THE WONDERFUL BEAUTY OF EVENING ON LAKE KEECHELUS 



In the Wenatchee National Forest, Washington, this picturesque body of water is completely surrounded by heavily wooded mountains. Along one 

 side of the lake the Forest Service has constructed a splendid highway, a part of the state boulevard system from Seattle to Spokane. At the 

 outlet of the lake the reclamation engineers have built a high earthen dam, which greatly increases the storage capacity. The lake constitutes 

 an important feature of the Yakima project, one of the richest irrigated areas in the world. The annual products of this valley which depend for 

 water supply upon this and other lakes in the Cascades have a gross value of $20,000,000. Under a wise policy of conservation and use, the 

 Forest Service has laid out a number of villa sites 1 r summer homes, many of which each year are occupied by citizens of the state. 



