NATIONAL FORESTS OF WYOMING 21 



of their forest-producing possibilities, and the silt would cover 

 the more fertile soil in the valle}^s and curtail or destroy their 

 productivity. 



At the confluence of the Xorth and South Forks of the Shoshone 

 River is the large Shoshone Reservoir. The water in this reservoir 

 is backed up by the huge Shoshone Dam built by the United States 

 Reclamation Service. It took five years to complete this engineering 

 achievement. The dam impounds the flow of these two large streams 

 for distribution among the fields of the lower vallev, serving in all 

 about 100,000 acres. 



Through this and other projects, some as yet only proposed, the 

 rivers of the Shoshone National Forest may eventually irrigate some 

 200,000 acres of what would otherwise be sagebrush land. 



There is more than a million acres of such land in the plains adja- 

 cent to the Big Horn and Yellowstone Basins, having favorable soils 

 and potential farm value if water can be made available for irriga- 

 tion. The importance of preserving the forest cover where it exists 

 and extending it to other nonproductive mountain areas is therefore 

 obvious. The future prosperity and agricultural development of the 

 region are limited only by the amount of water that can be supplied 

 for irrigation by the streams, many of which rise within the Shoshone 

 Forest. 



These streams also provide drinking water for several towns and 

 many ranches, especially those in the western part of the Big Horn 

 Basin. For this use the water must be pure. Therefore, in the 

 management of this and all other national forests where domestic 

 water supplies are involved, other uses of the forest are so adjusted 

 as to insure the water against pollution. This often requires special 

 regulation of grazing, camp sites, summer homes, resorts, and saw- 

 mills. 



Anglers delight in these forest streams, in which they find ample 

 opportunity to pit their skill and patience against the wiles of the 

 wary trout. Many of the less accessible streams and lakes offer a 

 sure catch, but others, especially those along the auto roads, have 

 been pretty well " fished out." The problem of keeping the streams 

 stocked is becoming acute on almost every forest. 



In an endeavor to keep them stocked, the streams depleted by the 

 hordes of motor fishermen are planted with fry hatched in the State 

 fish hatcheries and the Federal hatcheries at Yellowstone National 

 Park and Bozeman, Mont. By means of cooperation between the 

 Forest Service and many local groups of fishermen, 2,800 acres of 

 fishing lakes and 300 miles of streams in the Shoshone are planted 

 with such fry. 



GAME PROTECTION 



The Forest Service is deeply concerned with the protection of 

 game in this region. This involves not only the protection of the 

 animals themselves but also setting aside for them suitable winter 

 and summer range. Almost any area classified as forest land con- 

 tains, in its high, inaccessible portions, plenty of summer range for 

 big game. Because of the excessive snow in such places, however, 

 during the winter, nearly all the game has to migrate to lower alti- 

 tudes, where the precipitation is lighter and the stronger winds help 



