United States Forest Service

“ They cover more than 156,000,000 acres. If they could be massed together in one huge area like the state of Texas, it would make easier the task of handling the forests and fighting fires. The United States Forest Service, which has charge of their management and protection, is one of the largest and most efficient organizations of its kind in the world. It employs expert foresters, scientists, rangers and clerks. ”

“ At the Federal level, going programs of the Department of Agriculture—primarily under the Soil Conservation Service but also involving the Forest Service—are the best machinery we have. Their techniques of soil protection and runoff detention have been described earlier, and are often applied in a coordinated way to whole small watersheds. Mainly they are put into practice through the voluntary cooperation of landowners, watershed associations, and local or State governments, stimulated by Federal technical assistance and cost-sharing. ”

“ Lands examines and classifies lands in the Forests to determine their value for forest purposes, conducts the work in connection with claims on the Forests prior to proceedings before United States registers and receivers, and assists the Chief Engineer of the Service in handling matters in connection with the occupation and use of the National Forest lands for hydro-electric power purposes. The Branch of Silviculture supervises the sale and cutting of timber on the National Forests and coöperates with States in protecting forest lands under Section 2 of the Weeks Law. ”

“ In his first message, also, President Roosevelt urged the transfer of all control over national forests to trained men in the Bureau of Forestry—a recommendation carried out in 1907 when the Forestry Service was created. In every direction noteworthy advances were made in the administration of the national domain. The science of forestry was improved and knowledge of the subject spread among the people. Lands in the national forest available for agriculture were opened to settlers. ”

“ I urge that all our National parks adjacent to National forests be placed completely under the control of the forest service of the Agricultural Department, instead of leaving them as they now are, under the Interior Department and policed by the army. ”

“ In the United States the broad original forests have been very largely cut away, and those remaining have of late years been so largely reduced by indiscriminate cutting and the ravages of carelessly kindled fires that great alarm is felt as to the future of the lumber supply. Within recent years vigorous efforts have been made to overcome this growing evil. The American Forestry Association, founded in 1882, its purpose being the conservative use of our forest resources, has now over 5,000 members, residents of every state, and of Canada and foreign countries. ”

“ During winter and spring, however, hundreds of deer and elk can be seen quietly feeding along the road. Mountain sheep are also frequently seen during these seasons.
Keep your camera loaded when passing through the forest. A shot of a big bull moose or a graceful deer makes just as good a trophy as a head or a hide, and the camera season is always open. It requires much more skill to stalk and shoot game with a camera than with a gun.
If you go hunting be a genuine sportsman by obeying the State laws, by putting out your smokes and campfires, and by leaving a clean camp. ”

“ Our new start must be along the lines of timber planting and tree increase. The landowners, the States and the Federal Government must all get together in this big drive for reforestation.
It is impossible to make National Forests out of all the idle forest land. On the other hand, the matter of reforestation cannot be left to private owners. Some of them would set out trees and restore the forests as desired. Others would not. The public has large interests at stake. It must bear part of the burden. Proper protection of the forests against fire can come only through united public action. ”

“ The Shoshone Forest is no exception. Most national forests contain sufficient summer range for present game herds and some increases. However, the situation regarding winter range is different. Most of the land at the lower elevations where the game originally wintered is outside the forest. Much of it has been homesteaded and is in livestock ranches and farms. In many sections of the West game, especially deer and elk, are faced with the desperate choice of raiding ranches in the valleys and foothills or starving in the snowdrifts of the high mountains. ”

“ Abruptly the highway leaves the creek and turns up the north slope of Beartooth Plateau, and over easy grades zigzags its sinuous way into Wyoming and the Shoshone National Forest and to the very “top of the world.” Once on top a breath-taking panorama unexpectedly unfolds before the astonished traveler. Vision is practically unrestricted in any direction because the road is well above timberline. To the east lies the Big Horn Basin, with the Big Horn Mountains in the background ”

“ There are over a million acres of arid lands in the plains of the Big Horn and Yellowstone Basins, with favorable soils and potential farm values if 11 water can be made available for irrigation. It is important to conserve the forest and forage cover so that the greatest volume of usable water may be available for agricultural use. The future prosperity and agricultural development of the region is limited to a great extent by the amount of water that can be supplied for irrigation from the streams having their sources within the Shoshone Forest. ”

“ Each forest is under the charge of a forest supervisor. Headquarters of the Shoshone is in Cody, Wyo. Every forest is divided into districts, each of which is under the supervision of a district ranger, who has control of all its activities. His responsibilities include protection of the resources against fire and other enemies, the supervision of timber sales, and the grazing of large numbers of cattle, sheep, and horses; the management of wildlife resources ”

“ We are informed that the State could reforest to advantage from 2,000 to 2,500 acres a year, and could supply material for planting at least 30,000 acres a year on private land.
The importance of conservation by reforestation becomes apparent when one takes into consideration the relative rates of forest removal and forest reproduction. In the United States at large, we take from our forests each year, not counting the loss by fire, three times their yearly growth. We take 36 cubic feet per acre for each 12 cubic feet grown. ”

“ Sales of timber will not be made, but the grazing of domestic stock—cattle, horses, and sheep—will be allowed under well-regulated conditions, insuring ample range for big game animals and the protection of the basic soil and water resources.
These wilderness areas and the wildlife and fishing resources of the forest are the basis for one of northwestern Wyoming’s principal industries—dude ranching. Within and adjacent to the Shoshone are more than 30 such ranches and similar resorts. Guests enjoy all of the sports common in the mountains—fishing, hunting, hiking, or riding delightful trails. ”

“ Each forest fire that burns means a loss of forest resources. Timber, forage, wildlife are destroyed; soil erosion follows; everybody loses. Fires are always a menace in the summertime and more than half of them occur because some careless smoker or camper does not take care of his match, cigarette, pipe, or campfire. From 1909 to the close of 1939, 229 fires, which burned over 25,649 acres, have occurred. In recent years the Shoshone National Forest has suffered heavy losses from two large fires and an increasing number of smaller ones. The Crandall fire in 1935 burned over 12,600 acres. ”

“ The Forest Service is doing everything it can to encourage homesteaders on the National Forests; it wants them because they help to report fires, help to fight fires, and in many other ways assist the Forest officers. ”

“ Big Game.—The Shoshone is the only forest in Wyoming in which all species of big game native to the State are found, with the exception of the whitetail deer. These include antelope, mule deer, elk, mountain sheep, moose, and black and grizzly bear. What may be even more surprising is that there are open seasons on all species—deer, elk, and bear under the regular license ”

“ It has usually happened that the securing of good forest laws and the establishment of a State Forest Service has been brought about by the efforts of a small group of interested men, and frequently through the efforts of a single individual who has been able to arouse the interest of the people in his State. Enough States in different parts of the country have initiated State forestry to make it comparatively easy for a State contemplating new legislation to benefit by what has been done elsewhere. ”

“ This national forest is the largest of 21 in the Central Rocky Mountain Region, including within its boundaries 1,592,428 acres, of which all but 26,104 are Federal land. The forest is about 75,000 acres larger than the State of Delaware. Elevations within the forest range from 4,600 to 13,140 feet, thus providing a wide variation in climate, vegetation, and wildlife. At the lower elevations the summers are warm and the winters mild. The higher mountains enjoy only a brief cool summer and are snowclad most of the year. ”

“ Mature timber may be purchased, and when sales are made the cut is so regulated that a perpetual supply of timber will be available without destroying the forest cover. There are more than 20 different timber operations within the forest which provide lumber, posts, poles, and other timber products for the communities and residents of the Big Horn Basin and adjacent territory, and provide a living for approximately 100 families. ”

“ Grazing Resources.—The raising of livestock is a basic industry in Wyoming. The Shoshone provides summer range for 10,000 cattle and horses, and 75,000 sheep, owned by almost 200 resident owners. The higher ranges are particularly good for the production of lambs and wool, and the lower ones are excellent for beef. Range is also furnished for horse herds of the dude ranchers and for dairy cattle.
Permittees grazing livestock in the national forest are assigned specific grazing allotments, and are required to handle their stock according to approved management practices. ”

“ New England landowners are planting between 12,000,000 and 15,000,000 young forest trees a year. The Middle Atlantic and Central States are doing about as well. To save our forests, planting of this sort must be universal. It takes from fifty to one hundred years to grow a crop of merchantable timber. What the United States needs is a national forestry policy which will induce every landowner to plant and grow more trees on land that is not useful for farm crops. Our forestry problem is to put to work millions of acres of idle land. ”

“ Maintaining the health of our Nation's forests is an important and delicate task. As we continue to grow, both in terms of population and in land developed, we put increased pressure on our forests and woodland areas. In the past, such growth occurred without regard to its impact and often threatened the very existence of our forests and the diverse wildlife they support. Learning from our mistakes, today we use wise forest management strategies and careful stewardship to ensure that our forests will remain both healthy and productive. ”

“ High above the clouds on Beartooth Plateau.
RECREATIONAL USE AND VALUES
No single activity of the forest has grown so rapidly in recent years as recreation. The forest is ideally adapted to recreational use because of the rough, majestic, and undeveloped character of its wilderness where most travel must be done with a horse and pack outfit. It is truly a forest with a “back country.” ”

“ About 20 per cent of our forested territory is now reserved in National forests; but these do not include the most valuable timber lauds, and in any event the proportion is too small to expect that the reserves can accomplish more than a mitigation of the trouble which is ahead for the nation. Far more drastic action is needed. Forests can be lumbered so as to give to the public the full use of their mercantile timber without the slightest detriment to the forest, any more than it is a detriment to a farm to furnish a harvest ”

“ In some instances the Forest Service has been able to provide winter game range by regulating grazing or eliminating livestock entirely from the ranges. Such an example can be found on the Shoshone on the Elk Fork, Sweetwater, Horse Creek, and Grizzly Creek drainages. This area furnishes winter range for the largest elk herd on the forest, and is reserved especially for it. In addition, several hundred deer also use this same range.
SANITATION AND HEALTH
1. Mountain streams will not purify themselves in a few hundred feet. ”

“ The motor propels a series of steel lugs which kick out dirt and debris and speedily clear a fire trail down to mineral soil. Fire towers, which will make visible a large part of the forest, are in process of construction or are contemplated. In addition to the new tower on Clayton Mountain, another is being erected on Windy Mountain, located about 6 miles south of the Crandall Ranger Station. This will make visible a large portion of this immense country in the North Absaroka wilderness, including the area burned in the Crandall Creek fire of 1935. ”