THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF COLORADO 5 



on the national forests amounts to about 50,000,000 board feet, or 18 

 per cent of the annual growth. 



RESEARCH 



In order to manage a forest properly certain technical information 

 is needed. A forester must know how to cut his mature timber so 

 that the stand will perpetuate itself and so that the remaining trees 

 will maintain their best growth. He wants to know where to find 

 best sources of seed in order to grow nursery stock and how best to 

 grow this stock for planting denuded areas. The answers to these 

 questions are sought through research. Small-scale experiments in 

 cutting, planting, and nursery practice are carried out. Careful de- 

 tailed records are kept and repeated observations made over a long 

 period of time. Accurate conclusions can then be drawn and ap- 



Fig. 3. — Weeding seedling beds at the Monument Nursery, Pike National Forest 



plied to larger fields of operation in forest management and planting. 

 It is the function of the experiment stations to carry on this research 

 work and a chain of 11 such stations has been established across 

 the United States, one of which, the Kocky Mountain Forest Experi- 

 ment Station, is located in Colorado with headquarters in Colorado 

 Springs. In addition to the work done from the stations directly, 

 a great amount of research is done by the administrative force on the 

 national forests under the leadership and general supervision of the 

 experiment stations. 



REFORESTATION 



For the purpose of providing for future timber needs and securing 

 immediate watershed protection, lands which have been completely 

 burned over and which are not restocking naturally must be planted 

 with forest trees. Such lands on the national forests of Colorado 



