What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 27 



dense stand of timber until now it furnishes sufficient water for 130 

 decrees. 



The following letter from a rancher in northern Wyoming throws light 

 on what the protection afforded by the Bighorn National Forest means to 

 the water user in that part of the country : " I have 

 resided on Rock Creek for 28 years. During all this time igorn 



I was owner of a ranch and was dependent on a good 

 supply of water for all my crops; the welfare of my stock and my own 

 financial standing depended, therefore, more or less, on a good flow of water 

 in Rock Creek. All these reasons make a man observant and thoughtful 

 about any causes that may prevent a normal flow of water in any stream 

 the headwaters of which are in the mountains. We all know that if a 

 forest fire runs through the biggest portion of the watershed of a stream 

 the water supply of such a stream is greatly diminished, if not entirely cut 

 off, during the latter part of July and August, and untold damage is done 

 to all ranchmen who are dependent on such a burned-off area for their 

 irrigation water. 



"As proof of the foregoing, I mention the great fire on the headwaters 

 of Rock Creek in 1890, when four-fifths of the Rock Creek watershed was 

 burned off. There was good reason to think that it was incendiarism. 

 Immediately after the fire and for eight years afterwards there was very 

 little water at the right time. There were some destructive floods too 

 early in the season to do the irrigator much good. But as the hills became 

 covered with young reproduction the flow of Rock Creek kept increasing 

 and the floods became less destructive, and to-day, 20 years after the fire, 

 Rock Creek is nearly normal again, but not quite, for the reason that in 

 the head of the main fork the fire was so destructive that there were no 

 seed trees left for a distance of nearly 5 miles on the south side of the creek, 

 and consequently the reproduction is very scattering. 



' ' In conclusion I wish to state that anyone who successfully farms a 

 ranch in this part of Wyoming understands the great importance of keeping 

 the forest fires out of the mountains and of maintaining a good stand of 

 timber on the watersheds of all streams to hold the snow and help prevent 

 the rapid run-off of the water too early in the season to be of much use to 

 the irrigator." 



