TITLES 103 



their growth. Only sheep can find anything to eat in this type. 

 But the density is a favorable factor again when it comes to con- 

 serving moisture and spruce stands play an important role in this 

 way. They are especially useful because they are commonly 

 located at the heads of the valleys of the streams which furnish 

 the suppUes of irrigation water for the valley farms below. 

 Another very important use from the national point of view is 

 their scenic value. No one will deny that much of the beauty 

 of the higher Rocky Mountain peaks is due to the dark green 

 patches of Engelmann spruce clinging to the mountain sides. 

 We are at last beginning to recognize this function as a useful 

 one and insisting that such mountain slopes be protected from 

 reckless denudation. In other words this intangible use has so 

 great a value that the public will not permit cutting in which no 

 provision is made for a second crop and to enforce this mandate 

 has created National Forests and Parks thru Congress. Hence, 

 lands which will not pay dividends for the production of timber 

 alone give handsome returns when the by-product uses, grazing, 

 the prevention of erosion, the protection of water supplies, and 

 recreation are considered. These by-product values the pubHc, 

 thru its agent, the Government, can afford to conserve. 



Titles. — No special difficulty need arise under this heading 

 when the lands have been well surveyed. Unfortunately, for 

 reasons explained above, this is sometimes not the case. Hence 

 the location of much of this type is very vague and the chain of 

 title is correspondingly confused. Unsurveyed lands cannot 

 legally be transferred because the title remains in the Govern- 

 ment until surveys are made and accepted by the General Land 

 Office. 



