8 4 



THE FORESTER. 



April, 



with it. It at once occurred that here was a 

 central position from which to protect the for- 

 ests of th*> entire Bighorn range Let the post 

 of Fort McKinney be reoccupied by United 

 States troops, held there to do duty as foresters. - 

 If this is not considered a proper function for 

 the regular troops, let a regiment be raised 

 whose duty shall be confined to that of forest 

 protection and let a portion of it garrison this 

 post. There is no good reason that I can think 

 of why the army should not afford the basis of 

 an efficient police system for our national for- 

 ests; there are many and excellent reasons 

 why it should. 



Captain Chittenden presents some very 

 strong evidence in support of the asser- 

 tion that the preservation of forest cover 

 on mountain slopes is absolutely neces- 

 sary in order that soil erosion may be 

 reduced to the minimum a fact that is 

 almost always overlooked by those who 

 oppose a conservative forest policy. In 

 describing his journey through the mount- 

 ains he says : 



Teton Pass is incomparably the most difficult 

 pass I have met with in the mountains. Its 

 slopes are so steep that one would scarcely 

 believe it possible for wagons to cross did he 

 not see the evidence of their having done so. 

 Unlike most passes, the two slopes of this one 

 ernie together almost like the top of a roof, 

 with no space on top; and it is but a mild ex- 

 aggeration to say ihat a saddle horse on arriv- 

 ing at the top is laboriously digging its way up 

 on one side with its hind feet and vigorously 

 bracing with its fore feet to keep from sliding 

 down on the other. 



On the summit of this pass we were in dense 

 clouds, from which the rain came down in per- 

 fect floods until we were drenched through and 

 through. The road carried such torrents of 

 water that it seemed unsafe to travel iu, but 

 the occasion afforded an excellent opportunity 

 of seeing how forests protect mountain slopes 

 from erosion by the elements. The heavy rain 

 caused streams of water to pour down every 

 gully or depression, but wherever this was in 

 the forest areas the water came out clear, not- 

 withstanding its heavy volume. Wherever we 

 came upon open tracts destitute of vegetation 

 the surface water was invariably laden with 

 sediment. 



A Reasonable Policy. 



The following, in reference to forest 

 reserves, has been furnished the Journal- 

 Miner by a gentleman who has made a 

 study of the proposition, and hence is 

 conversant with the subject, and will be 

 found of special interest at the present 



time, inasmuch as it corrects some erro- 

 neously conceived opinions on the sub- 

 ject : 



"There seems to be a general dis- 

 position upon the part of those interested 

 in sheep grazing and other pursuits in 

 the vicinity of forest reservations to con- 

 fuse them with Indian and military reser- 

 vations, upon which none are allowed to 

 trespass, and which are set aside for 

 specific uses of the Government. 



"The forest reservations are of en- 

 tirely different nature, and are set aside 

 by the Government for what is considered 

 the public good of the Territory. Scien- 

 tific men, men of wide experience, who 

 have been interested in this subject, have 

 made thorough reports upon the arid 

 condition of the Southwest and the 

 necessity for the conservation of its 

 meagre water supply. They came to 

 their conclusion by years of careful ob- 

 servations, and in an unbiased manner, 

 without interest, except the general wel- 

 fare and prosperity of the country. 



"Aside from this great question of 

 water supply, there are other questions 

 of equal importance to the people of 

 Arizona, in whatever business they may 

 be interested 



"Remove the great pine forests, strip 

 the territory of its magnificent belt of 

 timber, and what have you left ? A few 

 rich men, who cut and sold the timber, 

 upon one hand, and upon the other a 

 vast territory denuded of its threefold 

 value ; the timber gone that should be 

 used in the development of the Terri- 

 tory's great mineral wealth ; the means 

 for impounding water shipped to other 

 States, and thousands of acres of worth- 

 less, barren, non-taxable, untillable land 

 reverted to the Territory. 



"Just where the reasoning man can 

 find objection to the forest reservations, 

 under the existing conditions, is difficult 

 to say. The general rule governing 

 forest reserves allows grazing privileges 

 to all stock except sheep. In the San 

 Francisco reservation even sheep are 

 allowed to graze, and it is very probable 

 that this ruling will be permitted so far 

 as this reservation is concerned ; the 





