NATIONAL FOREST WORK 



309 



cerned, it seems to me an injustice that the 

 necessities of the work should be quoted as 

 being opposed to the needs of the Forest 

 Service. Firing the leaves has not eradicated 

 the ticks, although followed for years. In- 

 stead of being beneficial in the forest, it has 

 killed out the grasses and even the new 

 growth of trees, which so often furnish 

 in spring the only source of nourishment 

 the buds upon which the cattle may browse 

 while the scanty herbage grows. 



' 'I have steadily advised that pastures, 

 meadows, and growing crops be provided, 

 upon which the cattle could be held and 

 fed the year around, and thus the need for 

 using the range be obviated, and the farmer, 

 by securing control of the feeding and breed- 

 ing factors, be able to raise better cattle for 

 the markets. Under present conditions the 

 mountain farmers are saving no manure, are 

 making small crops, and are raising a very 

 poor quality of cattle and hogs. By attend- 

 ing to better cultivation, diversified crops, 

 and feeding stock on the farm, and abandon- 

 ing the prejudicial burning of the woods 

 and range, they can raise a very high quality 

 of live stock and acquire a better money 

 crop than they have heretofore held. 



' 'From my observations and conversations 

 with the farmers of the Ozark Forest, on my 

 recent trip, I am led to believe that they 

 will take up tick eradication as soon as they 

 can raise the necessary money. The legis- 

 lature meets in 1911 and they will then ask 

 for a new five-cent district in addition to 

 state funds." 



Jg 



Changes In Two National Forests 



The President has signed proclamations 

 adding 129,819 acres to the Pecos National 

 Forest, New Mexico, and removing 31,561 

 acres from it; and adding 18,115 acres to the 

 Garces National Forest, Arizona, and remov- 

 ing 53i5 acres from it. 



In the ease of the Pecos forest, the addi- 

 tions lie entirely south of the former bound- 

 aries of the Pecos, and embrace the top of 

 the Glorieta Mesa south to within a few 

 miles of Canyon Blanco, and also include two 

 tracts near Las Colonias. The line has been 

 so drawn as to exclude the entire Pecos 

 Valley and confine the forest to the best 

 timbered areas in this region. In the case 

 of the addition south and west of the Pecos 

 River the boundaries follow the rim of the 

 Mesa as closely as possible. 



Some yellow pine timber, estimated at 

 43,000,000 board measure, is found on the 

 Glorieta Mesa, but a great deal of the 

 former stand has been cut off. Under care- 



ful management, it is hoped that both the 

 quantity and the quality of the pine can be 

 markedly improved. In addition to the yel- 

 low pine, there is a large quantity of cord- 

 wood and cedar posts which are readily ac- 

 cessible to the various shipping points along 

 the Santa Fe Railroad. 



No grazing fees will be charged upon this 

 addition for the first year, and the grazing 

 rights of all those who have been in the 

 habit of regularly using this area will be 

 very carefully protected. All the valid claims 

 initiated prior to the temporary withdrawal 

 of this land will be allowed to proceed to 

 patent precisely as if the forest had not been 

 created, and any lands found to be chieflv 

 valuable for agriculture and not needed for 

 administrative purposes will be listed to set- 

 tlers under the act of June n, 1906. 



The eliminations made by this proclama- 

 tion lie along the west side of the forest, and 

 embrace a strip from two to three miles in 

 width from the northwest corner south to the 

 Juan de Gabaldon Grant. While these lands 

 contain some juniper and pinon timber, there 

 is not enough of it to warrant keeping the 

 area within the forest. No portion of the 

 watershed of the Santa Fe Creek is affected 

 by this change. 



The additions and eliminations in the 

 Garces forest are located at various points 

 along the exterior boundaries of all three 

 divisions. The additions consist generally 

 of rocky foothills and high mesas cut by 

 deep draws, with gravel and sandy clay 

 formations. The eliminations embrace low, 

 rolling hills sloping toward the plains and 

 at various places precipitous barren rock. 



The forest growth on the additions is oak, 

 mesquite, desert willow, ash, and walnut, av- 

 eraging from five to eight cords to the acre, 

 while on the eliminations there is less than 

 two cords of scattered and stunted black and 

 white oak and mesquite to the acre. No irri- 

 gated or irrigable lands depend for water on 

 the areas eliminated. These are either rocky 

 or consist of gentle slopes with shallow soils 

 and only a scattered covering, without pres- 

 ent evidences of erosion. 



During a portion of the year grazing con- 

 ditions are fairly good in all of the added 

 areas, but it is hoped that the carrying ca- 

 pacity of the range can be greatly increased 

 by construction of tanks at suitable points. 



The lands eliminated by this proclamation 

 will be restored to settlement and entry after 

 being previously advertised by the Secretary 

 of the Interior. 



Hereafter the Garces National Fore^ will 

 be administered by Supervisor R. J. Selkirk, 

 at Tucson, and all communications involv- 

 ing matters on this forest should be ad- 

 dressed to him. 



