The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-21
FOREST RESERVES IN COLORADO
Part They Play fin Conserving Head- waters of Streams Which Rise in
 MOuutaina.

MOumtatns.
 | Washington. Oct. 20.-(Special. )-The | upheaval of mountain land forming | western Colorado constitutes the great
 watershed of the Middle West. The topography of this central ele-
 vated region makes it a factor of great | economic value. It's mountains are the
 sources of such important streams as
 the Colorado. the Rio Grande. the
 Arkansas. and the North and the South | Platte. which, with their numerous | tributaries. supply, to a large extent, surrounding States and Territories de- pend. Striking evidence of the far ] reaching influence of these natural mountain reservoirs is seen in the fact that the United States Reclamation Ser vice has recently selected various re- servoir sites on the Grand and Yampah rivers, in Colorado, for the storage of water in connection with irrigation
 projects for the reclamation of exten-
 sive areas in southern California, Neva-
 da and Arizona.
 The government, in It's work of pre- serving natural reservoirs. as forming | a necessary part of It's irrigation pro- jects, has recently extended its protec- tion over a considerable portion of this | mountainous area by the establishment of a number of forest reserves, for the purpose of conserving and regulating the stream flow of the region, and even tually insuring a greater flow in certain of the streams.
 This means that the forest cover on the tops and slopes of these rugged
 mountains is to be protected and used
 only so far as the preservation of | stream flow and a permanent supply of forest products will allow The noun
 tains will now be constantly patrolled.
 at government expense, to prevent the
 further occurrence of devastating fires.
 This. alone, will confer an inestimab ble
 blessing upon all depending upon this region for wood or water.
 The tracts reserved are at too great
 an altitude to admit of agricultural lands being included to any great ex- tent. They consist mainly of rough, mountain areas practically worthless except for their timber, water. forage. and mining wealth. Withholding rug ged areas of this kind from settlement will not interfere with the settling of the State, because such lands are un- suited to the purposes of the home seeker As their administration by the government will, however. eventually make possible the settlement and de- velopment of other lands. both in Colo rado and elsewhere, these otherwise waste areas will now be made to con tribute directly towards building up prosperous homes in large sections of the country
 The State of Colorado. in particular. will derive much benefit because it's irrigation possibilities are so great. The fact that when the reclamation work of the government was undertaken only about 3 per cent of the entire land sur face of Colorado was included in what might be termed improved lands and | that about two-thirds of that amount h1A frrf 1Ad hn q q
 service to devote special attention to
 the feasibility of retaining lands in Colorado. As a result. various pro- jects are now under consideration | which will render cultivable for the | first time extensive areas throughout
 the western portion of the State One
 of them. the Cncompahgre Valley pro- 5ect. is already well under way. When | 1t is completed. sufficient land will be | reclaimable to furnish homes for at least 1900 families in the Uncompahgre Valley
 The progress which has already been made upon these various projects leaves
 no room to doubt that the relation which the government is establishng 2. | in Colorado. between the mountain | sides and the valley lands. Is one which
 means the agricultural development of large sections of the State.
 While the forest cover on these mountains will be made to play this important role in the irrigation move
 ment. 1t is no part of the governments policy to withdraw the reserved lands
 from general use On the contrary
 it should be understood that the re-
 serve will be open to all persons for
 all legitimate purposes The timber
 water. pasture, mineral, and other re-
 sources will continue to be for the use
 or the people, the reserves having been
 established for the purpose of benefit
 ing. In every way possible. all the com
 muntfies which are in any wise depen- dent upon them.