16 



MISC. PUBLICATION 18, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



the Arapaho. As traffic is developed through this tunnel, the prod- 

 ucts on the west side of the divide will be brought much closer to 

 their logical markets. 



Timber cutting on the Arapaho is done on a fairly large scale. 

 The timber types are similar to those on the Colorado National For- 

 est, except that there is more Engelmann spruce and no western yellow 

 pine. The lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce are here manufac- 

 tured largely into lumber, the tops and smaller timber being used for 

 mine props. While this timber is well adapted for the production 

 of railroad ties, the industry has not been very well developed be- 

 cause of the demand for lumber. All trees which are mature, over- 

 mature, defective, or crowded, are cut. The thinning out of crowded 



Fig. 11. — A skidway and log chute in the Arapaho National Forest 



stands of small trees, however, is limited by the markets for the 

 products. 



These operations in no way alter the essential forest conditions 

 necessary to watershed protection, since they are regulated by forestry 

 principles. Cutting is done by the selection system, which, in this 

 kind of forest,, removes 60 to 70 per cent of the volume in board feet 

 in trees over 10 inches in diameter. According to present information 

 on growth rate the largest trees left will be ready for the next cut in 

 about 40 years. By rotating the cut over enough units a perpetual 

 yield is obtained. Because of accessibility to the railroad, most of 

 the demand for timber products on the Arapaho is in the southern 

 division of the forest, in the vicinity of West Portal and Fraser. 

 Many large bodies of timber are found, however, in other portions. 



Grazing of livestock is of secondary importance on the Arapaho 

 because the unusually dense and continuous timber and the rough 

 topography result in less than average forage. (See Table 1.) The 



