Arizona republican., 1900-11-07
RANGE PROTECTION
Scientific Discussion of an
 Important Subject.
Address of Professor R. H. Forbes Be- fore the Sixth Annual Session of the Arizona Agricultural Associ- ation.

Following is the annual address of Professor R. H. Forbes. retiring presi- dent of the Arizona Agricultural asso- citation. delivered at the sixth annual meeting held in Phoenix, October 19. 1900. The subject is a timely one and all who read it will be interested. Omftting the preliminary remarks. Professor Forbes said:
 I wish to call your attention this morning to a feature of the irrigating water problem which is not often dis cussed, and upon which, indeed, very little accurate knowledge exists, al though to an ordinary observer the subject is an extremely significant one. I refer to the relation between the open range country and the water supply available to the irrigation farmer. For many years in this country. and for much longer time in Europe. the rela- ton between forests and soil covers and the amount and regularity of the flow of streams has been observed and studied. It is a matter of history that many extensive regions. formerly clothed with forests and vegetation and once drained by large and constantly flowing streams, having been denuded of their vegetation. are now arid wastes of comparatively small rainfall and drained by rivers which are in turn either dry washes or destructive torrents. It seems, indeed, to be trait of all the great commercial races especially the Anglo-Saxon, that they must antagonize and destroy the wise provisions of Nature for preserving and improving her primeval country And so it is that. on a small scale, we may have observed that the spring from which as children we used to drink at the lower edge of some wood land. has disappeared after the de- struction of the forest above, whose brushy undergrowth and whose leafy mould constituted a natural obstruc- tion amounting to a storage reservoir from which the pure waters of the spring were once drawn. On a larger scale, the destruction of the forests of Wisconsin and Minnesota has ma teri ally affected the nature of the flow of the Mississippi river thousand miles away. The rains of the headwaters are now no longer restrained as they rush into the streams which feed the upper Mississippi. The freshets which start in this way thousand miles from the Gulf of Mexico overflow the lower courses of the Father of Waters spreading destruction and even death along the borders of the rich lowland country, and necessitating the erection of hundreds of miles of levees at great cost for the protection of these in terests.
 Because of such grievous object les sons as this. the movement to protect the forest regions of this country has gained great strength. and has in many instances led to a satisfactory admin istration of great areas of forest coun- try, both by the national government and by private enterprise. Most of the experience, however, thus far gained in this kind of work has been acquired in humid regions materially different in their character from the great plains of the west. The extensive experience, therefore, of the older and forest covered areas of this and other coun- tries needs to be greatly modified in order to fit the conditions in plains countries, especially in the southwest. For in humid regions. where the labor of clearing land is great and where the natural rainfall is large, the destruc- tion of the country is slow and the re- cooperative powers of nature are great. But in an arid plains country the de- structivef influences of cattle, horses, sheep and goats operate with great rapidity, and nature is slow to recu- perate after the damage is done.
 Now it may be stated with some con fidence that the interests of irriga- ton in southern Arizona are effected more by the grassy. open range coun- try, than by the grassy, forested dis tricts. The peculiarities of this range country, therefore. as effecting the run off of water and the flow of streams. are to be critically considered, and any change which is being brought about in the ranges by the opera tions of stockmen is of interest to the irrigation farmer in southern Arizona. As stated before, exact knowledge upon the pas; and present condition of the ranges is scarcely to be had yet historical evi- dence and existing facts are such as te enable us to offer satisfactory judg- ment as to what is transpiring about us. l wild sketch briefly the his tory of the cattle industry i'll southern Arizona, and will endeavor to point out to you its all-importance as affecting your interests at the present time. and in shaping your thought for the day when II snail be lmperatlvely necessary 10 administer those questions which though not widely recognized at the present time, are none the less quietly and powerfully operative. My observa- tions shall apply for the most part to that portion of southern Arizona trib- utary to the Gila above the bend, since 1t Is with this region that I am most familiar. This great grazing country including that portion of the water shed in New Mexico, is some 2,50 square miles In eXte2t. For the most part, this great area consists of grass! plains, intersected north and south by mountain ranges covered with forest: on their higher slopes. Considerable areas of the plains themselves. also are here and there sparsely covered with mesquite and other brush! growth Taking this great drainage area as a whole. however, the prevail! ing vegetation is grass, probably 9