io8 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



That part of the addition lying on the 

 west side of the forest is given Na- 

 tional Forest protection, because it in- 

 cludes the watershed of the Verde 

 River, above the proposed McDowell 

 Reservoir site, which is located on the 

 Verde just above its junction with 

 Salt River. It seems probable that 

 this McDowell Reservoir will be built 

 by the Reclamation Service at some 

 future time, and when this project is 

 completed, something over 100,000 

 acres of land will be irrigated in the 

 Salt River Valley, in addition to the 

 land irrigated by the Salt River pro- 

 ject at Roosevelt. 



The eastern portion of the addition 

 includes the headwaters of the Final 

 and Pinto creeks. Both of these 

 streams empty into Salt River above 

 the Roosevelt Dam. Their water- 

 sheds have been damaged by over- 

 grazing, mainly by goats. It is of the 

 utmost importance that these water- 

 sheds be protected: They are al- 

 ready carrying large quantities of silt 

 into Salt River, and since they both 

 empty near what will be the 

 upper end of the reservoir, they could 

 do enormous damage by filling it with 

 silt. 



The most southern portion of the 

 addition, lying directly west of the 

 Final Mountains Forest, and which 

 has, by this proclamation, been made 

 a part of the Tonto National Forest, 

 protects the watershed of Queen 

 Creek, which the Reclamation Service 

 has determined some day to impound. 



The Final Mountain National For- 

 est of 45.760 acres has been thrown 

 into the Tonto Forest, giving a total 

 area, including the new addition, of 

 2,449,280 acres. In the large addition 

 there is very little commercial forest, 

 but in most of the canyons and draws 

 there are stands of oak and chapparal 

 species, and in limited areas very 

 dense stands of Arizona cypress. This 

 limited amount of wood is of great 

 importance, both for water conserva- 

 tion and for prolonging the fuel sup- 

 ply in a country in which the supply 

 i> very short. 



Additions to The President has just 

 signed a proclamation 

 creating three additions 

 to the San Bernardino National For- 

 est in Southern California. The total 

 area of the tracts added to the for- 

 est is 33,680 acres. This land in- 

 cludes a small area on the northwest 

 corner and two small additions to the 

 southern part of the forest. 



The northwest tract adds some val- 

 uable woodlands, those on the south 

 are important from the standpoint of 

 water supply, since they include part' 

 of the watersheds of the City, Plunge, 

 Santa Ana, Noble and Little San Gor- 

 gonio creeks. These five creeks sup- 

 ply water for 25,000 acres of valuable 

 irrigated citrus land. Three import- 

 ant power plants are located on the 

 Santa Ana Creek. The cities of Red- 

 lands, Grafton, Highlands, Menton, 

 Del Rosa and Beaumont depend upon 

 these creeks for water supply. The 

 chaparral growth on the southern ad- 

 ditions has an important influence in 

 conserving the water. The area will 

 be put under patrol and protected 

 from fire. Fire lines along the ridges 

 and hogbacks of the foot hills will 

 be opened as soon as possible. 



Twenty-five thousand acres have 

 been added to the Monterey National 

 Forest, in Monterey County, Cali- 

 fornia. Of these, 14,080 acres are on 

 the eastern side of the forest. This 

 addition covers the headwaters of a 

 branch of the Salinas River. Within 

 the area are two proposed reservoir 

 sites, and it is very important that 

 this watershed be protected. The bal- 

 ance of the area is added to the west 

 side of the forest, and includes pub- 

 lic land that has a stand of about 

 30,000,000 board feet of merchantable 

 timber. 



Elimination In Oregon, on the other 

 hand, 131,643 acres 

 have been eliminated 

 from the Blue Mountain National 

 Forest. This elimination was recom- 

 mended by the Forest Service after 

 a very careful examination of the 

 boundary of the Forest! The greater 



