738 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



other improvements for the convenience 

 of tourists and permanent residents. 



Near Clyde is the Rathke elk pre- 

 serve, leased from the government for 

 the protection of a band of these rap- 

 idly diminishing animals. The Colo- 

 rado Springs Fly Casting Club has its 

 fishing resort on Beaver Creek, a few 

 miles west of Palmer Lake. At Palmer 

 Lake, adjoining the eastern border of 

 the Forest, and dependent upon the 

 Forest for many of its recreative fea- 

 tures, is one of the most attractive 



gations are being conducted by the For- 

 est Service to determine how best to 

 reproduce, develop, and manage the for- 

 ests of the Rocky Mountain region. 



In order to facilitate the transaction 

 of business the Pike is divided into 

 eleven ranger districts, each provided 

 with a ranger headquarters. Where 

 such headquarters are not more con- 

 veniently located in nearby business 

 centers, they are established on the 

 Forest, consisting of dwellings, barns, 

 outbuildings, pastures, and a small 



A NATIONAL FOREST OPERATION. 



A LUMBERING SCENE ON THE PIKE NATIONAL FOREST IN COLORADO. 



mountain resorts in the state. Nestled 

 in the timber on the slope of the moun- 

 tain are many beautiful summer cot- 

 tages readily seen from the cars of the 

 two railroads passing close by. On the 

 eastern border of the Forest, near 

 Monument, the Forest Service main- 

 tains one of the largest forest nurseries 

 in the country, supplying annually hun- 

 dreds of thousands of young trees for 

 restocking denuded areas within the 

 National Forests. Two miles west of 

 Manitou, on the slopes of Pikes Peak, 

 is situated the Fremont Experiment 

 Station, where extensive forest investi- 



patch of agricultural land to supply 

 food and provender for the ranger, his 

 family and livestock. 



The most destructive agency on the 

 National Forests today is fire, which 

 annually destroys millions of dollars 

 worth of public property. In order to 

 reduce this loss to a minimum the For- 

 est Service during the last ten years 

 has built up on the Forests a vast net- 

 work of roads, trails, and telephone 

 lines, established fire lookout stations 

 on prominent mountain peaks, and 

 ulaced throughout the Forests thou- 

 sands of tool caches containing fire- 



