THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF COLORADO 11 



original railroad construction from this forest, and they have drawn 

 upon it for timber for maintenance ever since. Coal mines in the 

 vicinity of the Pike National Forest which supply Denver, Colorado 

 Springs, and Pueblo have always obtained mine props from the 

 forest. It was not until the period 1880-1890 that improved trans- 

 portation facilities began to bring in timber from more distant 

 points. Even so, this forest has always supplied a large portion of 

 the local demands. 



The near-by mountains and their forests have been important to 

 local communities as a source of water supply as well as timber. 

 Early settlers, however, found that the water contained sediment 

 washed from the barren slopes from which it drained and that it was 

 irregular in its flow. One of the early tasks of the Forest Service 

 in Colorado was to hasten the process of nature in replacing a soil 

 binder by planting trees on the barren slopes of these drainages, and 

 the Pike National Forest planting project is the result. 



The Pike forest has become widely known as a reforestation area. 

 Along a recently constructed automobile road which goes to the very 

 summit of Pikes Peak the young trees of the man-made forest can 

 be seen stretching from the highway in irregular rows. Planting 

 was done every year here for 20 years, until in 1923 the work was 

 transferred to Mount Herman, about 20 miles north, where it con- 

 tinues on the same scale. In all a total of 6,236 acres has been 

 planted on Pikes Peak. The four species planted — western yellow 

 pine, limber pine, Englemann spruce, and Douglas fir, all of which 

 grew there before the fires — were chosen after early experimental 

 plantings had indicated the trees best suited to local conditions. 



Patience and hard work, as well as skill, were required for the suc- 

 cess of the project. Early summers are often dry and hot on these 

 exposed slopes, and it is necessary to begin operations every spring 

 as early as bare, unfrozen ground can be found, just below the 

 lingering snow banks, and, if possible, to follow the receding snow 

 very closely, so that the little trees can have the benefit of the mois- 

 ture produced by its melting while the newly transplanted roots are 

 getting " set " in the loose soil. 



Near Monument, at the foot of Mount Herman, the Forest Service 

 maintains a nursery which is an important part of the Pikes Peak 

 planting. Here, on 10 acres of ground, are 3,000/)00 baby trees 

 getting a start under the expert care of an experienced nurseryman. 



About one-third of these trees are dug up every year and shipped 

 out for transplanting. They are so tiny even after three years' 

 growth that it seems hardly possible that they can get a start in the 

 discouraging surroundings of a burned-over mountain slope. But, 

 even though they may be lost, apparently, for several years after 

 transplanting, the proof is on the ground in the earlier plantations 

 that they are able to make their way better than might be expected 

 and that the work of past years is already serving a highly useful 

 purpose in retarding erosion. 



There are many mature stands of timber on the Pike National 

 Forest, valuable for the wood they are growing every year. Only a 

 part of this annual growth is as yet harvested. Other tracts of tim- 

 ber, such as that in Jarre Canyon, southwest of Denver, because of 

 the crowded condition in which they grow, show practically no an- 



