Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1906-06-19
INSPECTION Of
JEMEz RESERVE
Supervisor Kneipp
Makes Ten Day
Trip.
FINE TIMBER AND PAsTURAGE
In Districts One and Two.
Sheep Men Are Pros
porous.

Leon F. Kneipp, forest supervisor,
returned Saturday afternoon from
ten days inspection trip through dis
tricts one and two of the Jemez forest
reserve. These districts comprise the
northern part of the reserve and eX'
tend along the Colorado line, where
there are some Of the finest timber and
grazing lands in the southwest. A
thorough inspection of the reserve has
never been made and it Is Supervisor
Kneipp's intention to examine each
of the districts within short time.
Concerning the part of the resrve
through which he travelled, Mr..
Kneipp, when seen thsi morning, had
the following to say.
"a more prosperous and contented
lot of people than those whom met
In northern New Mexico and southern
Colorado, | have never seen during my
experience in the forest service The
sheep men have been unusually sue
cessful this year, their lamb crop aver
aging from ninety to one hundred and
ten per cent. The grazing during the
spring and early summer months has
been fine and all that is needed is
good rain to put 1t back to its former
splendid condition The cattle and
horses although there are not as
many in districts one and two as
there were last year, are doing well
and a large number of fat cattle will
be shipped from that vicinity this
year.
Large Number Of Sheep and Cattle.
"At present there are in district
nun one, $4,000 sheep, 1900 cattle
andy 200 horses; in number two, $500
sheep, 500 cattle and horses. The
owners of this stock comply with the
regulations of the forest service, and
the rangers are not experiencing any
difficulty whatever.
"The timber on the tracts through
which l went Is as good as there is
On the reserve Along the Vallecitos
Creek alone, | am sure that 100000
900 feet of merchantabse yellow pine
could be secured. / have recently had
inquiries from several parties concern
ing this timber and there Is no
doubt but what a big sale in that dis
trict will be consummated before very
long. In order to remove the timber
it would be necessary to build mar
row gauge railroad but in spite of
that fact the purchase of 100,000000
feet of timber along Vallecitos Creek
would be an excellent proposition.
Sheep Men Are Appreciative.
'In talking with number of sheep
men, I found that they appreciate
very much what has been done by
the government since the organization
of the Jemez reserve. Before that
time there was great deal of trouble
among the sheep owners relative to
who should secure choice grazing
lands. Before the opening of the
lambng season the sheep would be
driven to certain sections where the
best places for lambing were known
to be and in the rush that followed
many were lost and killed. Often
there was trouble between the own.
ers of different focks and occasionally
little gun play was indulged in. Now
applications are made for certain graz
ing lands, and the applicants know
that they will not be intruded upon.
"a movement has recently started
among sheep raisers to breed up their
sheep. They figure that if they can
even secure an additional pound of
wool from each sheep, 1t will pay the
expenses of dipping and shearing as
well as for their grazing permits.
Taken as a whole everything on the
reserve Is in excellent condition"