

THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA 



By ROBERT W. AYRES, Forest Examiner, and WALLACE HUTCHINSON, 

 Assistant District Forester, Forest Service 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Forests and public opinion — ^ 1 



Spanish California knew little of the 



forests 2 



Development of conservation 4 



National forest resources 7 



Timber 7 



Water 9 



Forage 13 



Recreation 14 



Wild life 19 



Administration of national forests__ 21 



National forest receipts 22 



Roads and trails 23 



Forest fires 24 



Appendix 27 



List of national forests with 



headquarters and net area 27 



National forests, parks, and 



monuments 27 



State parks 28 



Forest statistics, State of Cali- 

 fornia 29 



I'age 

 Appendix — Continued. 



Estimated stand of Government 

 timber in national forests of 

 California 30 



Timber cut in California, 1924__ 30 



Production of lumber in Califor- 

 nia, 1923 and 1924 30 



Consumption of lumber in Cali- 

 fornia, 1920, 1922, 1923, and 

 1924 30 



Grazing, national forests of Cali- 

 fornia 30 



Hydroelectric power from streams 



in California 31 



Irrigated lands. State of Cali- 

 fornia 31 



Farming. State of California 31 



Fire record, State of California- 31 



Fire record, national forests of 



California 32 



Trees of California 33 



Six rules for preventing fire in the 



forests 33 



FORESTS AND PUBLIC OPINION 



After a quarter century of effort by the conservationists, the 

 problem of providing for adequate protection and wise use of forests 

 and forest land in the United States is still one of the most pressing 

 problems of the Nation. This problem can not be solved in its 

 entirety by foresters and landowners. Public opinion must be 

 aroused. The destructive use of the forests which created the pres- 

 ent situation has been tolerated partly because of lack of general 

 understanding of the results of unwise lumbering methods and of 

 letting fire burn the woods. There is great need to-day for the public 

 to become acquainted with the forests in a more intimate way. to 

 know something of their extent and productivity, their relationship 

 to the economic and social life of the Nation, and their consequent 

 claim to direct interest on the part of every citizen in their wise use 

 and perpetuation. 



In the following pages the national forests of California are 

 described and an account Is given of their value to the public welfare 

 and of the means and methods used by the United State- Forest 

 Service to make them contribute as much as possible, both now and 

 in the future, to the prosperity and well-being of the people of the 

 State and the Nation. 



