The Flagstaff sun-democrat., 1897-08-26
FOREST CONSERVATION.
Partial Report "f cad-rny of Scien-
 ces Committee.
Continued from last week.,


 Conrrrning rhe reserved f"rrst lands of ,h. public domain the committee rep"rlrd that "'th- peculiar t"ln'graph- icai and climatic conditions ." wesi- cru N"r,h Am~rwa would appear to make the preservation of i,s forests essential to the profitable and prrma. nenl occupation If ,h. c,untry."
 Irrisai,"n systems have been under taken tn many lmalit'rs under State or rnr,sTate con,r"l and have been prosecuted until their value has been amply demonstrated. Allh"ngh the one essential condition nf their permanent sucr.ss. the preservation of the forests on high mountain slopes. has been en- tirrly neglected.
 B.,nnd the limits nt the natural parks. which are effectively and ~,s.- p"nically pa,r,lrd .b, dr,acl,msnts of the Unilrd States army, iha cnmmittee WAS unable i" disr"v-r any evidence that srrin,,s attempts are made ny the Government in protect the forests of the puhi,c domain from illegal timber cutting and pas, uring, "r to prevent the slarling ar check the spread of forest fires.
 Fire and pasiuragr chiefly threaten the r. served forest lands of the public domain. In comparison with these the damage which Is inflicted nn them by illegal timber cutting is insigniti. cant.
 The climate. with it's uneqaally dis tribn,ed rainfall and intensely hot and dry summers and the peculiarly infiammahle character "f the forests, make fnrest fires in inc West numrr. ous and particularly destructive. and no other part "f the a,untry has suf- feret a, seriously frnm this cause.
 The right of way "f every railroad crossing ihe Rocky Mountains and the other interior ranges of il,e continent is marked hv hioad zones of drvasta- tiOp due to fires which have started from ihe camps nf cons,rn,lion gangs or the sparks of locomotives; and thousands If acres of timber are de strnyrd annually by the spread of fires lighted by settlers to clear their farms.
 Prosp-ctus in search of valuable mineral frequently set fires in wooded regions tn uncover the rocks and fa- ciliiale their operations; and the shepherds who drive their focks to pasture during the summer months in the mountain forests of Oregon and California make fires in the autumn tO clear the ground and improve the growth of forsg. plants the following year.
 Tn. committee. iraveling for six weeks through northern Montana, Idaho and Washington. and through western Washington aud Oregon, were almost constantly enveloped in the smoke of forest fires.
 No human agency can stop Vest ern forest fire when it has once ob- tained real headway. and the only hope of avrrling the enormous losses which the conniry suffers every year from ,his radse is in preventing fires from starting in The forests or in ex- tinguisI,ing them promptly.
 Unrestricted pasiuring of sheep in the Siarras and southern Cascade for esis. by preventing their rrpr,duction and increasing the number of fires. must inevitably so change the flow of streams heading in these mountains that they will become worthless for irrigation.
 The public domain of which these reserves form part beIongs to the people of the whole country. and not to those of any one section. It is right, therefore, that the forest re- serves should bs managed for the ben eft of the people of the whole coun- try. and not for any particular class or section. Steep and elevated moun- tain sl0i,es sha,uld nnt he cleared Of