10 



MISC. PUBLICATION" 3 9, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



WATERSHED PROTECTION 



Watershed protection is one of the primary purposes for which the 

 national forests are maintained. Irrigation is the keystone of the 

 prosperity of the San Luis Valley, and most of the water for this 

 purpose comes from the Kio Grande National Forest. In addition, 

 the welfare of a large territory in southwestern United States and 

 northern Mexico depends upon the waters of the Rio Grande, and 

 the effects of overgrazing, tire, or destructive logging along the 

 headwaters of this river, all of which are within the Rio Grande Na- 

 tional Forest, would be felt far beyond the limits of the forest. Using 

 only so much timber and forage as is grown each 3'ear helps to estab- 

 lish and maintain on the forest those conditions necessary to prevent 

 erosion on the watershed. 





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Fig. y. — •• I'arade of the ghosts," Wheeler National Monument 



WHEELER NATIONAL MONUMENT 



The Wheeler National Monument, a grotesquely eroded geological 

 feature within the Rio Grande Forest, has been set aside by presi- 

 dential proclamation and named in honor of George Wheeler, United 

 States Engineers. 



Ages ago lava outpourings piled up at this spot and the elements 

 have worn them into figures of exceptional beauty. The monument 

 may be reached by a trip of 12 miles over a Forest Service trail. 



Saddle horses may be hired at Creede, and the trail leads across 

 the face of Mammoth Mountain (11,042 feet), giving a superb view 

 of the upper Rio Grande country and of Creede with its adjacent 

 mining activities. 



