THE CRATER NATIONAL FOREST. 1 



Area, 1,166,600 acres. Headquarters, Medford, Oreg. 



THE FOREST. 



The Crater National Forest, situated in a heavily forested region 

 in southwestern Oregon, with a small area in northern California, 

 contains approximately 10,197,000,000 board feet of merchantable 

 timber, and is capable of producing a sustained annual yield of 

 90,000,000 board feet. A portion of the timber is tributary to the 

 Sacramento Valley and to San Francisco for rail and water ship- 

 ment, while other portions, at present inaccessible, will, with the 

 completion of railroads now building or planned, become available to 

 supply a number of outside markets. Because of the large private 

 holdings of timber in the vicinity of the Forest, the west and most 

 heavily timbered slope has not yet been called upon to supply the 

 local demand for any material other than cordwood. The entire 

 timber resources of the Forest will in the future be available when the 

 timber on private lands has been cut away. 



The streams which head within the Forest water the rich Rogue 

 River Valley, one of the greatest apple and pear producing regions 

 in the United States, furnish the cities of Ashland and Medford 

 and the town of Butte Falls with their supply of water for domestic 

 use, and will in the future be the chief source of supply for Gov- 

 ernment reclamation projects involving 240,000 acres of land. While 

 some of the streams are already utilized for the development of power, 

 there yet remains within the Forest about 300,000 horsepower unde- 

 veloped. 



On the mountain meadows and in open timber the Forest offers 

 range for about 4,000 cattle and 9,500 sheep. All of the range is 

 fully utilized. 



Northeast of the Forest lies the Crater Lake National Park, con- 

 taining Crater Lake, one of the natural wonders of America, and 

 visited each year by a great number of tourists. 



The force at present on the Forest consists of a supervisor, a 

 deputy supervisor, 2 technical assistants, 10 rangers, and 8 guards. 



1 For much of the material contained in this bulletin the author is indebted to Mr. S. S. 

 Swenning, deputy supervisor, and to the silvical reports of Mr. H. D. Foster, forest assist- 

 ant, Crater National Forest. He is also greatly indebted to Mr. M. L. Erickson, forest 

 supervisor, Crater National Forest, and to Messrs. C. J. Buck and F. E. Ames, assistant 

 district foresters, District 6, for aid in securing both figures and facts. 



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