1462 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ON THE UNCOMPAHGRE NATIONAL FOREST IN COLORADO 



Where the Bear Creek Trail winds like a silver thread around the face 

 of the cliffs. 



can create landscape beauty to harmonize in other places, 

 should know enough to properly guide that work in natu- 

 ral surroundings. For develop- 

 ment work goes on whether it is 

 studied from an artistic point of 

 view or not, and in places where 

 this point of view might have 

 some value there is no other pro- 

 fessional whose line of study and 

 experience fits him better to give 

 advice. 



To come back to the "Leave 

 nature alone" idea. What does it 

 mean? What does nature do if 

 left alone? The strongest crea- 

 tures, be they strong by mere 

 brute strength or by better adapt- 

 ing themselves to their living con- 

 ditions, the strongest creatures, 

 either animal or plant, will sur- 

 vive and crowd out the others. 

 The willow clump will spread over 

 the open meadow and crowd out 

 the birch, the alder, the honey- 

 suckle and the dogwood. Aspens, 

 beautiful though they are, will 



quickly fill the fine meadow you had loved so well a few 

 years ago. Cattle and sheep, for they are included in 

 the "nature" of the slogan, eat and pull the wild flowers 

 to a dangerous extent. Douglas fir and lodgepole pine 

 will cover large areas to the exclusion of silver cedar. 

 yellow pine and other picturesque trees. Mistletoe de- 

 stroys the pine trees and in general weeds if left alone 

 will soon become pests. 



It is well to leave nature alone, as far as it goes. No 

 doubt it is better to leave her alone than to destroy her. 

 But a still better way, and much better at that, is to aid 

 nature along. In places where beauty can be consid- 

 ered — and it seems with our recreation ideas that in places 

 it should be considered — roads should be built— not from 

 the standpoint of utility alone— but should be designed so 

 as to show the best scenic points of the area. A road 

 may lead around the head of a valley, and if there is a 

 snowpeak visible over the length of this valley, nature 

 may be improved occasionally by cutting down a few 

 dozen trees to open up the view. Or the road may lead 

 by a large cliff rock, which until now had been hidden by 

 tall willow growth and could easily be partly cleared and 

 made visible. 



Or lookout points can be made accessible by narrow 

 roads or trails. There are a hundred and one objects 

 which may become objects of beauty in such a tract. 

 Open yellow pine forests may become fine camping sites, 

 dense aspen plantings may be made of great interest, 

 some colony of rare plants may even be worth while to 

 lead a road by them. A creek may be crossed at a pic- 

 turesque bend, or on a large meadow the road kept to 

 one side to prevent the open natural meadow from being 

 cut into two small strips. Beautiful old trees may be 



OX THE PIKE'S PEAK BRIDLE TRAIL 



A type of trail that is being built by the Forest Service so as to make the forest more accessible to the 

 large number of tourists who visit the mountains annually. 



