Gunnison news-champion., 1904-03-18
hOCC FlAYS FELLOWS.
CoSssis CooxsxnnAa Csves H.
00insan a Theses
" FscsA


earnest the ssuav u the f1resi r..
serve qsesti9n with particular re-
ference b. Caiarsda. and his activity
In tins direction has aroused can-
siderable Interest am9ng gihesals 81
the IHierIar department in " aehIuz
ton aud Colorado.
lie recently reserved letter from
an official IN Colorado wha weuf into.
quite aH exhaustive explanation "a
the forest reserve proposition Ia this
state aud who argued in iavor e the
extension of the system GA the
ground that IT conserved the water
supply. and for other reasons.
Mr. Hagg Is not opposed o. forest
Reserve in general. he nevertheless
believes that thev should uat be
created without considerable in
vestieation aud consideradi1u af the
local conditions involved
In reply O. the RITTER above men
TONED Mr. lIagg said.
Il am Ia receipt of y1urs # the
9TH instant relative o. forest reserves
for the alleged purpose of conserving
the water supply Of the arid region
] am sorry that ! cannot agree with
vour main c0ntentl1n
am well aware that considerable
study has been given 10 this subject
by professional men, aud 50 far a.
the theory y concerned they seem o.
be somewhat unanimous In their CON
elusions
They, however, see but one side
Of the question. and that is that
forests in the Rocky mountain region
at least, are mainly valuable on
account Of the retention of snow,
thereby prolonging, as it is alleged.
the period Of irrigation.
"The trouble with YOU gentlemen
is that YOU see but one phase Of the
subject, and do not, it seems 20 me.
consider the many and varied inter
ests that are dependent upon lumber
and the supply Of timber in the sue
cessful operation thereof. The great
objection that ! have TO the present
and prospective administration of
forest reserves, is that So far there
has been an utterly reckless with
drawal of lands valuable for agri-
culture and grazing purposes, which,
in no sense, conserves the water sup
I ly OF any section Of the country. In
support Of this statement | sug gest
10 You what know to be a fact. that
none of the forests below eight thuus-
and feet altitude, To any extent con
serve the water supply after the first
of July Take il where the yellow
pine grows, which Is of but sparse
growth as YOU know, all snow has
disappeared ordinarily by the middle
of April or the FIRST of May Ii may
be true that the thick, heavy spruce
forests higher up may, to some ex-
tent, have the effect that You suggest,
bnt | doubt even there that the or
binary use OF these forests fur min
ing and other purposes can. to amy
extent that is at all apprgcilble, iu-
terfere with the flow OF water. have
lived west of the range for some %
wears, and have been quite familiar
with the condition Of the streams I'm
that section of Colorado, and while
of late years there has been a some
what lessened supplvof water IT has
been due SOLELY, i'm my Judgment to
the fact that for three or four wears
we had a very light fall Of snow in
the mountains i'm December and
January on account Of which IN
many instances that | know. many
springs originating In the mountains
themselves and NOT from any surface
flow have gone dry
1T is the early SHOWS, that furnish
the water supply for this reason.
The snow that Tails, say in l.eGem-
her and january, forming i'm drifts
aud through avalanchcs or slides fl-
ling rnlches in the mountains near
and above timber line, is hardened
so that it almost becomes ice, and re
mains in places al summer, not hav-
ing disappeared uutilncw snow falls.
The snow Of February and later, not
having the chance to soIdifv, passes
off rapidly in the spring. and can be
counted Of but little value for the
later flow Of water Any one fami-
liar with mining knows that the
mountains. a. a rule, with the or
diuary snow fall in the winter, fill
with water through the different
creviees and become thereby nat
ure's reservoirs emptying themselves
through springs and not being sub
ject to evaporation the water Is much
better conserved than any water YOU
might collect in a foot or five feet Of