178 THE NA TIONA L FOREST RESER VES 



uninhabited, and the same ma}^ be said of the western third of 

 Nebraslca, excepting along the Pkxtte river. 



It is not due to any lack of fertility that so much land is still 

 in the hands of the general government. On the contrar3% tlie 

 greater part of this area has on it soil far richer than that of the 

 average farm lands of the east. The one obstacle to its use lies 

 in the scarcit}^ or the irregularity of distribution of moisture. 

 As a rule, it is arid and cannot be depended upon to produce 

 crops each season unless artificially supplied with water. It 

 supports, however, a scanty vegetation except in a few relatively 

 small spots where the drifting sands or the accumulations of 

 earthy salts prevent the growth of the hard}^ desert plants. 

 Many of these plants are valuable as forage, and thus the })ublic 

 lands in their native condition are as a whole valuable for grazing. 

 • It must not be supposed that the soil, though fertile, is every- 

 where adapted for agriculture even with irrigation. The surface 

 of the country is in places extremely rough, the West being 

 characterized by the great mountain masses of the continent. 

 Many of the mountains rise to heights of 10,000 feet and over, 

 and on account of their altitude and precipitous slopes receive 

 a larger amount of rain and snow than the broad lands of the 

 adjacent valleys. On the plateaux and ranges, especially at 

 an altitude of 7,000 feet and upward, where the moisture is 

 sufficient, the desert plants are replaced by larger growth, and 

 considerable areas of woodland and even of dense forest abound. 

 This is especially true in the country to the north and west of 

 the main body of arid lands, where the Sierra Nevada, Cascade, 

 and Coast ranges are thickly clothed with forests, among which 

 are the groves of giant sequoias, the largest of existing trees. 



It has been estimated that in the aggregate there are on the 

 public lands lying within the arid or se^iiarid portions of tlie 

 western public land states over 75,000,000 acres of forest, and 

 besides this ovei; 118,000,000 acres of land upon which scatter- 

 ing trees suitable for firewood, fencing, or other farm purposes 

 are to be found. The public land areas have in their forests vast 

 potential values, the ultimate realization of which is dependent, 

 however, upon proper protection and conservation. 



The first necessity of the pioneer in the West is water ; next to 

 this grazing for his animals, and then wood for fuel and for pur- 

 poses of construction. As settlement progresses the demand for 

 wood increases — more houses must be erected, more fences built, 



