8 Miscellaneous Circular 15, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



National forests of the Southwest. — There are 1-1 national forests 

 in the Southwest, 8 in Arizona and 6 in New Mexico. These forests 

 contain 19 \ million acres of land, ranging in elevation from 5,000 

 to 12,000 feet. They include the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, 

 the Colorado Plateau of Arizona, scattered mountain ranges that 

 rise from the deserts of the southern parts of these States, and the 

 rough cactus and brush-covered watershed about the Roosevelt 

 Reservoir. There are growing in them 23 billion feet of saw timber 

 and 23 million cords of wood. Without these forests the Southwest 

 would be scarcely habitable. Every acre of irrigated land is de- 

 pendent upon the water that is conserved in the timbered mountains. 

 Without them there would be no Roosevelt Lake or Elephant Butte 

 Reservoirs; no. verdant Salt River project with beautiful palms and 

 orange groves; no Mesilla Valley with waving grain and fields of 



The rangers keep watch over the forests. 



cotton. Without the forests there would be no cities like Phoenix 

 or Albuquerque, as we now know them, because there would be no 

 adequate water supply for domestic use in cities. The forests of 

 the Southwest are grazed annually by 520,000 cattle, 730.000 sheep 

 and goats, 7,000 horses, and 800 swine; 500,000 recreationists visit 

 them every year, and many permanent summer homes, municipal 

 camps and playgrounds, and public picnic areas have been estab- 

 lished. 



STUDY NO. 5. 



MANAGEMENT OF FOREST LANDS. 



Hi (//test list'. — The national forests, as well as most other timber- 

 lands, occupy areas that are generally mountainous. Much of the 

 land within" the forests is rugged. It will grow trees, but is un- 

 suitable for almost any other purpose. Such places meet their high- 

 est use in the production of timber. The production of .timber on 

 the headwaters of streams is consistent with the protection of water- 

 sheds from which cities and irrigation projects obtain their water 



