Gunnison news-champion., 1906-10-05
49, AnVa V0

have t~es ~gcsoses ~ TIE ssse
sDcsetsry II ,hs a.s.rssE. Ne ws
eli kno~ s.Ili,oas 8! scses are c,x-
tA,Sed AZ fure.; se~srves uksch
haze Do timber sns,~ser tss-
.oss de~.rsnS ~ ester any us-
lsssed lAnds q; thss character -
yess.s~d 10 apply H. the tos~.ass
fH the examination. c.~seshcstsa
and hstlnN Of them The issas
ss~ 10 he fled IN local land othcss
aud provision is made fs dus
sot.ce by psblication and oais1s-
wee The applicants have s.xsy
days from the sas~ of sach poasce
in which 10 make ~slect,ou. For
ten years the f,eld aud fsrsU hes
fought strsnuoasly ior this very
point aud no~ that u has b<sn
granted We isel that 1t come- hike
. concession. We waut ail the
settlers we can gc, on our vacant
lands wherever they may he ioca,-
ed /"
Until we have a new dead and a
square deal. which 1t ssems st.so-
lutely hoTeless 10 hook for under
this administration, We never expect
10 see the higher mountain sections
derive any benefit from the above
provision. THIS Is because II the
cunning wording of the new la~,
and the construction, the forestry
department puts upon the words,
agricultural land The department
does not consider grass lands ~ xgri-
cultural land. !, deliberately de-
cides, without evidence ana without
consultation Of the people IN the vast
sections devoted BY reserves to sil-
ence and solitude, that the water ,s
more valuable lower down" In
other words that water 10 lrrigate an
acre should not be used at the alt-
tude Of reserves, where II is devoted
chiefly to grass, but IN the wisdom
of the department official should be
carried on down TO section where
1t will raise grain and fruit NEws-
CHAMPION desires to call the atien-
ton Of the Field aud Farm TO the
fact that this is the guiding princi.
pie of Mr. Pincbot and his associates
That it is on this basis tbev rpfuse
to allow Colorado people 10 bald
certain reservoirs and develop their
own state because at some fstuH
time they expect to use a large part
of the water in California, Arizoss.
NeW MEXICO, kansss and Nebrsaka
II 10 jsstihable 70 use GsnniSbn
county - . water tank for Montrose
and Delta, il 10 j0stihable 10 use
Colorado "a q water tank for other
statss. II You assume to stlhe the
healthy development Of a mountain
county for the oetenslble benefit of
another section Of Colorado then by
the same token, you may expect to
have the development Of your own
enterprising state blocked for the
benefit of some distant common
wealth.
We desire to call the attention Of
the Field and Farm, that able ex-
ponent of western agriculture, to
another fact, fact which the forest
ry buresucrats refuse to even con-
slider. This is that a mountain
ranch At the altitude of Gunnison 10
the most effective conservator Of
spring floods known. A much more
effective conseryator than the same
area IN forests Instead of using
water for the less valuahle crop as
the government theorists contend. il
boards in the soil and enables US TO
twice use the precious spring foods
that would otherwise travel to The
sea as a dead loss. Tie testimony
before Judge Bailey at Buena Vista.
last winter in the Otero Ditch case
brought out this truth with startling
effect. Water from these mountain
ranches is generally shut off between
the 10 and 81 of July during hav-
ing and for two months at the verv
time of water scarcity, the $50
ranches of our Gunnison country are
feeding the Gunnison We can
show dozens Of ranches that have a
good sized creek flowing from them
until II freezes.
Yet in the iace Of this fact hat
they are defeating their own ends as
well as doing us an injustice the
forestry department refuses to mend
its ways Under the present regime
we do not hope TO see the grip Of the
reserve loosened upon an acre Of the
Gunnison reserve. and sincerely
hope the Field and Farm WI con.
tinue its wise efforts to get all the
settlers we can on our vacant lands
wherever they may be located The
battle is not Vet won.
T. W. Gray has invested in a 9otL