Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-04-01
ella River
Forest Reserve

The ella River forest reserve, which
was established by proclamation OF
President Mckinley on March 2. 1899.
was examined In the summer of 1903
by Mr.. Theodore i. Rixon OF the
United States geological survey, Mr..
Rixon's report which the Survey
publishcs ~ professional paper No,
80, Il POW available. Besides ex.
aminirr The lands Mr., Rixon made q
rough s'ryey Of the RI and prepared
n recorpgl ance map, which Is used
as an illustration in the report.
This reserve includes several promi.
nent mountpln ranges, the principal
OF which are lhe San Francisco, the
Tularosa, the Mongollon. and the
Black. The southwest corner OF the
reserve Is, generally speaking, a roll
ing county with many prominent
buttes, and Is without trees EXCEPT a
light grov h of scrub timber in
patches. Che extreme southwestern
portion, ~ which Mount McMullen
raises is barren summit. Is very
rocky and abrurl. Here the country
drops perpendicularly several hun.
dred feet into a desert tributary to
San Francisco river, which lies dis
tant 20 miles OF mor to the west.
The reserve as a whole is well water.
ed, all the streams from the noun
tain ranges carrying a considerable
flow for a long distance beyond the
forest regions. 1t is t~raversed by fair.
ly good roads and trails. which fol.
low the valleys.
Agriculture il carried on extensive
ly along San Francisco river and there
are a few farming settlements along
ella river, but no large agricultural
area exists anywhere within the
confines Of the reserve BY intro
ducing reservoirs and irrigatng dtches
the amount Of available agricultural
land could be largely increased. The
market for the products of this dis
trict is 70 distant, however. being In
40 instance less than 80 miles away.
that a system of irrigation would
hardly pay for itself.
Grazing the most important Of the
industries of this regoin, requires
careful attention and supervision TO
prevent the total destruction of the
grass roots by o~verstocking. The
mining industries in the reserve are
confined to the Mogollon mountains
and practically to the Cooney mining
district, although a few prospects are
found on South Fork of Whitewater
Creek, The advent of railroad facil-
tiles would undoubtedly bring the
district to the front. but there is lit
tie prospect of that in the near future,
as the territory is practically unpro-
ductive agriculturally and the only
freight available would be The ore
from Cooney district.
Logging operations have been car
ried on in a desultory manner for
some years in different parts OF the
reserve. Wherever the yellow pine
has been logged clean. the young
growth on the lower lands is inevi-
tably yellow pine, which is growing
very rapidly in places. The young
growth throughout the alpine and
mountainous regions is white fir, red
fir, timber pine, spruce, and balsam,
and the proportion of reproduction is
in the order named. At the lower
attitudes the second growth timber Is
very limited. However close their
proximity to streams, the different
species of cottonwood, walnut, ash,
alder, box elder. and sycamore repro
duce themselves to a limited extent
only, mostly in shady places along
deep, rugged canyons. All of these
varieties are indigenous to the soil and
grow freely wherever there is suffi.
cient moisture. The depth Of humus
is slight, the lowlands being entirely
devoid of it. The litter and the un.
derbrush among the alpine timber
are very heavy. This reserve has suf-
fered very little from fires.
If the totally barren area is not
taken into confederation, the ella
River forest reserve is a well-timbered
region. The total area examined Is
about 3640 square miles. Of this,
1898 square miles, or II Ia per cent,
are covered with m%erchantable timber
of extra quality; 2 square miles have
been burned: 30 square miles. or 2 IL
per cent, have been logged; and 955
square miles, or 26 IA per cent, are
naturally timberless. The timber of
the reserve amounts to a total of
1861. 1863. $50 feet B. M, giving an
average stand Of 1882 feet B. NJ, per
acre over the entire timber belt.
Yellow pine constitutes 57.75 per cent