and (2) the work of this branch would, he 

 thought, relate almost entirely to the high 

 plateau regions, chiefly summer range of 

 Utah. But Messrs. Clapp and Chapline, respec- 

 tively Assistant Forester and Senior Inspector 

 in Charge of Grazing Research, contended 

 that the name Great Basin was well estab- 

 lished after nearly 20 years' use and prevailed 

 for retention of that part of the name. Valid- 

 ity of their judgment was amply confirmed 

 because the continuing research at Great 

 Basin Station has been concerned with envi- 

 ronment far beyond the high plateau regions 

 in Utah. 



From Great Basin Branch Station, the 

 name was changed to Great Basin Research 

 Center; later still it became Great Basin Ex- 

 perimental Range, by which it is now of- 

 ficially known. Despite all these official 

 changes in name, "Great Basin Station" popu- 

 larly prevails and consequently is the name 

 used throughout this history. 



The impetus for establishing the Great 

 Basin Station stemmed at least partially from 

 numerous requests received by the Secretary 

 of Agriculture by 1900 for scientific study of 

 summertime floods that originated on moun- 

 tain watersheds and were seriously damaging 

 farms and rural communities in the West. 

 Such floods, usually of mud and rocks, were 

 especially severe and frequent in valley com- 

 munities below the Wasatch Plateau in San- 

 pete and Emery Counties. As late as Septem- 

 ber 4, 1913, the Ephraim "Enterprise" head- 

 lined a front-page story "Flood Pays Annual 

 Visit of Destruction." Dr. James T. Jardine, 

 Inspector of Grazing for the U. S. Forest Serv- 

 ice, energetically pushed for a western experi- 

 ment station, and there had been plans for a 

 station in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. The 

 compelling reason for establishing the Utah 

 Experiment Station was rooted in the precari- 

 ous relation of many valley communities to 

 the mountainside watersheds above them. 

 Ephraim Canyon sustained several severe 

 floods between 1889 and 1910. Manti Can- 

 yon, just a few miles south of it, flooded 

 many times between 1888 and 1902. Follow- 

 ing creation of the Manti Forest Reserve 2 in 



2 An Act of Congress approved March 4, 1 90 7, changed 

 the name "Forest Reserve " to "National Forest. " 



1903, Manti Canyon was closed to grazing for 

 several years, and no serious flood has come 

 from it since 1902. An official report in the 

 spring of 1910 attributed flooding in nearby 

 canyons in 1909 to prolonged overgrazing. 

 Reynolds (1911) reported a destructive flood 

 in Ephraim on September 10, 1910, that left 

 a thick layer of mud on the streets and filled 

 irrigation ditches, culverts, cellars, and base- 

 ments with debris. Grainfields west of the city 

 were also damaged. So the need for determin- 

 ing the causes of summertime floods and for 

 devising effective means of preventing or con- 

 trolling them was compellingly evident. 



■ Experimental 

 Range Created 



Since the problems of wildland manage- 

 ment are varied, research has required use of 

 numerous individual sites where certain spe- 

 cific characteristics of soil, terrain, climate, 

 and vegetal cover were typical. A specific area 

 for research in the drainage where the head- 

 quarters is located was long considered and 

 used but was never officially designated until 

 recently. On April 28, 1970, the Great Basin 

 Experimental Range, comprised of 4,608 

 acres in Ephraim Canyon drainage, was for- 

 mally set aside for range and watershed re- 

 search by executive order signed by A. W. 

 Greeley, Associate Chief of the Forest Serv- 

 ice. The Great Basin Experimental Range is all 

 within the Ephraim Ranger District of the 

 Manti-LaSal National Forest and is chiefly in 

 Ephraim Canyon. It occupies parts of 17 sec- 

 tions of Township 17 South, Range 4 East, 

 Salt Lake Base and Meridian. 



Although not large, this is an important 

 piece of real estate. Additional acreage can be 

 added to this experimental range as may be 

 required. The present area will serve for 

 future intensified research as well as for 

 demonstrating the usefulness of findings. 



The western boundary of Great Basin Ex- 

 perimental Range lies along the Manti-LaSal 

 National Forest boundary and is at about 

 6,800 feet elevation. From there the northern 

 boundary of the Experimental Range rises 



2 



