UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION No. 99 



Washington, D. C. 



March, 1931 



GOVERNMENT FOREST WORK IN UTAH 



Prepared by the Interinountain Region, Forest Service 



CONTENTS 



History 3 



Administration 5 



Forest organization 6 



National-forest policy 7 



The forests are for use 7 



Agricultural land •_. 7 



Sale of timber 8 



Free use of timber 9 



Mining 10 



Grazing use 10 



The Intermountain Forest and Range Ex- 

 periment Station -.. 12 



Other forest uses 14 



Municipal water supplies 14 



Recreation 15 



Fish and game 15 



Improvement work 16 



Fire protection 16 



Investigative and cooperative work.- 17 



Forest officers and the public 18 



Schools. 18 



To the people of Utah the rugged mountain ranges ever within 

 their view mean much more than a wonderland of scenic beauty and 

 grandeur ; much more than a national playground and resort of rare 

 distinction. Such values the natives of the State see and increasingly 

 appreciate; but they also see in these towering hills the primary 

 source of that productivity which, coupled with the ambitious in- 

 dustry of her citizens, has given Utah an enviable rank among the 

 Western States. 



Thirty years ago these great mountain areas were in danger of 

 rapid devastation. The timbered slopes, the natural sources of 

 supply of wood essential to continued civic progress, were afforded 

 no protection against fire, reckless cutting, mismanagement, or waste- 

 ful exploitation. The vast areas of livestock range were steadily 

 being turned into dust beds through overintensive and uncontrolled 

 grazing. In those days the traveler in the valley might have counted 

 the herds upon the near-by mountain sides by the clouds of dust 

 which rose above them. The future of irrigation and the continu- 

 ance of pure and plentiful supplies of water for domestic use were 

 threatened through the destruction of the forest and vegetative cover 



This publication supersedes Department Circular 198, Government Forest Work in Utah. 



