The National Forests of Arizona 9 



of Flagstaff provide excellent opportunities for recreational develop- 

 ment. One of these. Mormon Lake, located about oO miles south of 

 Flagstaff, is the largest natural bod}' of water in the State. It 

 offers good bass fishing, and there are many camping places along 

 its shoreline of over 12 miles. 



There are many other wonders which attract tourists to this 

 region during the summer months. The San Francisco Peaks offer 

 op^3ortunities for mountain climbing to heights from which the 

 greater part of Arizona and portions of several other States may 

 be seen. Then there are the cliff' dwellings in the Walnut Canyon 

 National Monument. 9 miles east of Flagstaff', and the wonderful 

 Montezuma Castle and Well about 60 miles south. The Painted 

 Desert, just northeast of the forest, presents those distant views of 

 green, gold, crimson, and purple found only in the Southwest. 



Eoads and trails have been constructed primarily to protect this 

 forest against fire, but they are available also to the traveler seeking 

 recreation in the cool mountains. The Coconino National Forest 

 has the largest fire hazard of any forest in the Southwest. It ordi- 

 narily has one-third of all the forest fires occurring in the national 

 forests of the State. Lightning is responsible for many of them, as 

 there are often in June severe electrical storms which are ac- 

 comjoanied by little or no rain. Records show, however, that 40 

 per cent of all the fires occur through carelessness of man. To aid 

 in the protection of this forest, lookout towers and a complete tele- 

 phone system covering 222 miles have been established. The con- 

 struction of roads and trails is also being continued each year. 



THE CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST 



(In Cochise, Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz Counties in Arizona, and Hidalgo 

 County in New Mexico) 



The Coronado National Forest lies in nine divisions, and is com- 

 posed of mountain ranges which for the most part rise abruptly 

 from the southern Arizona desert. The most important mountains 

 in the forest are the Santa Catalinas, the Santa Ritas, the Hua- 

 chucas, the Tumacacoris, the Dragoons, and the Chiricahuas. There 

 are two small divisions containing 129,152 acres in the extreme 

 southwestern part of New Mexico. The gross area of the entire for- 

 est, which is administered from headquarters at Tucson, is 1,486.980 

 acres. The forest is named for Don Francisco Vasquez Coronado, 

 the Spanish explorer who in 1540 crossed southern Arizona in his 

 march from Mexico in his search for the Seven Cities of Cibola, 

 which had been reported to him as having large stores of gold. 



The Coronado National Forest has no extensive saw-timber stand 

 and can never become the source of supply for a large lumber in- 

 dustry. Much of it is exceedingly rough country with the good 

 saw-timber stands high up in inaccessible country. At lower ele- 

 vations, however, there are hea^^^ stands of oak. together with con- 

 siderable piiion and juniper. These are of much value in supply- 

 ing the ranches in the surrounding treeless areas with firewood and 

 fence posts. A few small mills in the more accessible saw-timber 

 stands will always supply at least a portion of the local demand. 

 94679°— 24 — -2 



