THE NA TIONA L FOREST RESER VES 1 79 



more fuel consumed, and as mines are discovered and worked, 

 wood in greater quantities 'is called for. The demand is ever 

 growing, and many industries are dependent for success ujwn 

 the ability to obtain lumber, timber, or firewood at low prices. 

 With the great distances between centers of population and the 

 expense of transportation in our sparsely settled West, the utiliza- 

 tion of many resources is closely connected with the ability to 

 obtain the neccessary wood near by, and with the relatively 

 small areas of forest and the unfavorable conditions for rapid 

 growth, it becomes important to perpetuate the wooded areas, so 

 as to })rovide for the needs of the near future. 



It is not alone, however, as furnishing asupi)ly of material for 

 industrial purposes that the forests have value. There is a belief 

 prevailing throughout the country that the water supply for irri- 

 gation is dependent to a certain extent in quantity, and i)erhaps 

 still more in continuity, upon the i)reservation of the forests upon 

 the headwaters of the streams. Without water the great arid 

 West is worthless, for not even mining can be carried on unless 

 a moderate supply of water is available, and, as a matter of course, 

 stock raising is also impracticable unless water exists near the 

 open range. Everything, therefore, that affects the supply of 

 water in a land of drought must be looked upon WMth the keenest 

 solicitude, not only b}' the inhabitants of the country, I)ut by the 

 owners of the land, the people of the United States. It would 

 seem, therefore, as though every effort should l)e made to ascer- 

 tain the extent, value, and influence of the forest and to guard 

 the perpetuity of the supplies of water and of wood. 



In order to obtain a clear conception of the relative extent of 

 the woodland and forest of the West, the following table is in- 

 serted, giving the area in acres of the seventeen western states 

 and territories, and also the extent of the forest, the woodland, 

 and the treeless area. There is also added a table showing the 

 area of improved land in each of these political divisions in order 

 to illustrate to what a small relative extent settlement has already 

 progressed. In this table the classification has been attempted 

 between the land which bears forests in whole or part and that 

 where the conditions of soil and climate are sucli that only scat- 

 tering wood is produced. Such a distinction must, of course, Ix' 

 arbitrary and crude, but for the present discussion it serves to 

 convey general ideas. 



