18 MISC. PUBLICATION 290, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
of drift fences, bridges, trails, or other works. The Forest Service 
allots funds for such construction when the benefit to the forest 
plainly warrants the expenditure. Local stockmen frequently cooper- 
ate in the development of these improvements. 
REFORESTATION BY PLANTING 
Many of the national forests, particularly those recently acquired 
in the Lake States and the South, include areas that were devastated 
by heavy logging and repeated forest fires prior to their establish- 
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FIGURE 13.—Forest Service trail on the Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyo. 
ment as national forests. When devastation 1s so complete that 
desirable types of forest growth cannot be expected to return 
naturally, it is necessary to plant trees on these areas in order to 
restore protective cover to watersheds and to return them to forest 
productivity as soon as possible. Because nursery-grown trees are 
better able to survive, most planting is with tree seedlings grown in 
Forest Service nurseries, rather than by direct field seeding. 
Increased capacity of Forest Service nurseries has enabled plant- 
ing operations to be greatly expanded in recent years. More than 
a score of tree nurseries, staffed with trained nursery technicians, 
and producing young trees by the millions suitable for planting in 
the various national-forest regions are now being maintained. 
