466 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



in supply based upon the area, I deter- 

 mined to investigate and ascertain, if 

 possible, the cause. The San Gabriel 

 River drains the very center of the re- 

 serve, its west and easterly arms reach- 

 ing out fully forty miles east and west, 

 with the central channel leading to the 

 valleys of about twelve miles. It is in 

 a position to receive the maximum rain- 

 fall, as it is generally understood that 

 in the higher elevations and the central 

 portion of the mountains the rainfall is 

 far greater than on either the valley or 

 the desert slopes. I traversed the en- 

 tire area, skirting up into the canyons, 

 and I found no place where fire had 

 not burned within a comparatively few 

 years. In many cases the stream beds 

 even were denuded. 



One tributary of the East Fork of the 

 San Gabriel, known as the Devil's Can- 

 yon, with an area of thirteen square 

 miles, was formerly noted for its fine 

 timber and continuous flow of water. 

 The average altitude of this canyon is 

 about 4,000 feet. Formerly sheep graz- 

 ing was carried on in this basin, and the 

 inevitable accompanying fires literally 

 destroyed all vegetation, until now there 

 is no conserving power whatever. In 

 fact, nearly the entire area of the San 

 Gabriel River basin has been seriously 

 burned, and in these regions that have 

 been burned so frequently and so se- 

 verely there is nothing but rocky sur- 

 face, and it will require very many years 

 for the growth to return. There is per- 

 haps one-third of the entire area that 



WESTERN YELLOW PINE FOREST IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



