16 Department Circular 2k0, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



the United States Reclamation Service, Hondo irrigation project, 

 as well as for large areas of irrigated lands situated on the banks 

 of its upper tributaries. Chief among these is the Rio Bonito, which 

 forms the water supply for the town of Carrizozo and for a consid- 

 erable mileage of the El Paso & Southwestern, and Atchison. Topeka 

 & Santa Fe Railways, and the Rio Ruidoso. along which are many 

 prosperous farms. Along the Rio Felix and Rio Penasco there are 

 considerable areas of irrigated lands, although the larger part of 

 the water from these streams reaches the Pecos River, where it is 

 caught in the United States Reclamation Service dam and used for 

 irrigation purposes on the important Carlsbad project. Un- 

 doubtedly this watershed also exerts an active influence on the 

 Pecos River. Indiscriminate cutting of timber and overgrazing of 

 the watersheds of these tributaries, which are now prevented under 

 Forest Service administration, would surely result in serious silting 

 of the Hondo and Carlsbad irrigation projects and this in turn would 

 be detrimental to the development of the great agricultural region 

 already reclaimed. 



The western slope of the Sacramento and White Mountain divisions 

 descends by two precipitous escarpments to the Tularosa plains, its 

 drainage including several small streams which furnish water for the 

 irrigation of the fruit and alfalfa farms which support the towns of 

 Alamogordo, La Luz, Tularosa, High Rolls, and Mountain Park. 

 One of these streams also supplies the town of Alamogordo with 

 water. The importance of the conservative management of these 

 steep slopes in order to prevent timber depletion, overgrazing, and 

 the resultant floods is therefore self-evident. 



The timber resources of this Forest are estimated to consist of 

 424,869,000 board feet of saw timber and 1,343,085 cords of wood. The 

 saw timber consists largely of western } 7 ellow pine and Douglas fir 

 and the cordwood of piiion and juniper. Of this amount there was 

 cut about 3,173.000 feet of saw timber, ties, cordwood, and other forest 

 products during the year ending June 30, 1921. The cut per acre is 

 not sufficient to lessen the beneficial effect of the forest cover on the 

 flow of the streams whose water is used for irrigation purposes. 



In addition to the value of the Forest as a watershed and for timber 

 production, its ranges were grazed in 1921 by 33,481 head of cattle 

 and horses and 17,005 sheep and goats. Grazing privileges are widely 

 distributed among 394 permittees, who in addition graze a large num- 

 ber of work and milk stock on the Forest free of charge. 



Agriculture is successfully practiced along some of the narrow 

 valleys in the Forest where most of the lands suitable for that purpose 

 passed into private hands many years ago. Since the creation of the 





