growing season. The highest weather station 

 was at 10,000 feet, probably at or near the 

 site of the present Alpine Station; the next 

 lower one was at the Experiment Station 

 headquarters at 8,850 feet; and the third was 

 about 1,700 feet lower, near the present Na- 

 tional Forest boundary at Major's Flat. These 

 locations gave data for the Hudsonian zone 

 (spruce-fir association), Canadian zone (aspen 

 association), and Transition zone (oakbrush- 

 aspen association). The records of temper- 

 atures, precipitation, and soil moisture, 

 plus observations of the condition of vegeta- 

 tion, gave bases for measurement of the 

 length of the growing season in the three life 

 zones. They showed that the growing period 

 in the Transition zone is about 3 weeks longer 

 than that for the Canadian zone, and about 6 

 weeks longer than the growing season in the 

 Hudsonian zone. Within 6 miles by wagon 

 road, a scientist could encounter 6 weeks' dif- 

 ference in length of growing season. 



Historical importance of the Great Basin 

 Station can hardly be measured solely in 

 terms of the numerous experiments per- 

 formed there and their results, significant 

 though they be. The Station has been a 

 training ground for many men who later 

 achieved prominent positions in the Forest 

 Service and other governmental and academic 

 positions. As long ago as 1939, Lincoln Elli- 

 son remarked in a talk at the Utah State Agri- 

 cultural College: 



Great Basin may be regarded as one of 

 the two cradles of range research in this 

 country. The other is Jornada Range Re- 

 serve in New Mexico. It is said that al- 

 most everybody in range research has, at 

 one time or other, worked on the 

 Jornada, and almost the same may be 

 said of the Great Basin. 



He named A. W. Sampson and F. S. Baker, 

 who were then teaching at the University of 

 California; W. R. Chapline, who had become 

 Chief of Range Research for the Forest Serv- 

 ice, and C. L. Forsling, who became head of 

 the Division of Forest Research in Washing- 

 ton, D. C; and C. F. Korstian, president of 

 the Society of American Foresters and for 

 many years dean of the School of Forestry at 

 Duke University. 



In an age that takes for granted the em- 

 ployment of numerous full-time personnel to 

 staff any research organization, a reader is 

 considerably surprised — if, indeed, not mild- 

 ly shocked — to examine the personnel phase 

 of the work at Utah Experiment Station. At 

 the beginning, Director Sampson apparently 

 was the only yearlong employee. In his annual 

 report for 1913, he wrote: 



During the active field season there were 

 three temporary assistants and one per- 

 manent assistant. The temporary men 

 were Messrs. William R. Chapline, Jr., 

 who now has a permanent appointment 

 in the Forest Service as Grazing Assist- 

 ant, Richard O. Cromwell, and Paul H. 

 Roberts. 



He commented that Mr. Chapline 's services 

 began on June 1 and ended on November 15. 

 The other two temporary assistants worked 

 only short terms in the summer field season. 

 F. T. McLean, who had been Forest Assistant 

 on the Manti Forest prior to establishment of 

 the Utah Experiment Station, was the "per- 

 manent" assistant until October 20, when he 

 went on furlough. E. R. Hodson, also from 

 the Manti Forest, succeeded him. 



In the very first years, Mr. McLean was re- 

 sponsible for much of the experimental work 

 in silviculture. His work was considerably aug- 

 mented a few years later by that of F. S. 

 Baker and C. F. Korstian, who were probing 

 the mystery of the "pineless belt" (see Silvi- 

 cultural Studies) in the brushlands of Utah 

 and southern Idaho. 



Director Sampson was favorably disposed 

 toward using advanced forestry students as 

 temporary summer assistants. He found them 

 hard workers, eager to make good; they read- 

 ily grasped the significance of the research 

 and willingly accepted some hardships and 

 long hours to promote the projects; and they 

 could do hard manual work "quite as well as 

 the theoretical." "For these reasons," he 

 wrote in his first report, "I therefore strongly 

 favor the employment of students to as great 

 an extent as practicable in future seasons." 



Prominent among the young men who 

 worked at Utah Experiment Station in its ear- 

 ly days was Leon H. Weyl, Grazing Assistant. 

 He had completed his junior year in the 



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