Sierra Forest Reserve, Illustrating Protective Covering (Page 657) 



on the ground to feed the flames and 

 increase the destruction from the next 

 forest fire. And this common practise 

 of cutting the best and burning the rest 

 has been followed up until it has so 

 far depleted and degraded the stand 

 that our remaining forests, east of the 

 Rocky Mountains contain but a small 

 amount, probably less than one-fifth, of 

 the valuable timber that they might 

 have had with reasonable care and pro- 

 tection. 



The repeated burnings have largely 

 destroyed the forest floor that held back 

 the water and protected both the moun- 

 tain and the valley from destructive flood 

 and drought, and robbed the soil of its 

 ability to reproduce a protecting 

 growth. 



Formerly, the settlers selected the 

 more level land for clearing, but, with 

 the increasing demand and abandon- 

 ment of the older, worn-out fields, they 

 are now pushing their clearings up 



659 



