178 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
mountains covered with dense bodies of timber and areas 
of heavy brush and high mountain meadows in which 
tall luxuriant grasses and succulent herbs flourished. 
The mountain streams were clear, filled with fish and 
maintained a fairly even flow throughout the year. When 
Utah was first settled the mountains supported more 
natural resources then the people of the State had need 
for but as the region developed the utilization of the 
timber and forage resources became more intensive. 
The local forests supplied all the lumber that was used 
in the development of the State up to the advent of the 
railroad. Bancroft, the historian, tells us that in 1883 
one of the main drawbacks to the industrial development 
of Utah was the scarcity of timber suitable for hard 
and finishing lumber. The settlers were not allowed 
to acquire title to timber lands and even were nominally 
forbidden to use timber except on mineral lands, and 
then only for domestic purposes. With the continued 
development of the State, these conditions were further 
changed through the denudation of the mountains as a 
result of unregulated timber cutting, unrestricted graz- 
ing, fires and the resultant erosion. Floods and uncon- 
trolable high water became increasingly and alarmingly 
frequent in many localities, reservoirs and irrigation 
systems silted up rapidly, washouts were numerous, fields 
were covered with boulders and debris brought down 
from the adjacent mountains, and the streams became 
too muddy during flood periods for fish to live in them. 
The denuded watersheds also lost much of their original 
grazing value through the dissappearance of many of 
the palatable forage plants and on account of the 
decreased carrying capacity larger areas were needed 
each year to furnish range for the great herds of cattle 
and sheep which have given Utah such a prominent posi- 
tion in the live stock industry. These are some of the 
extreme conditions existing when most of the forested 
public domain of the west was placed under federal con- 
trol with the creation of the National Forests. They were 
authorized by congress under the organic and adminis-- 
trative acts of March 8, 1891 and June 4, 1897. The 
majority of the National Forests were established mainly 
through the subsequent untiring efforts and far-sighted 
