El Nuevo mexicano., 1912-01-27
NATIONAL FOREST
Of THE JEMEz
Few People Recognize What
i Source Of Wealth II Is
to the People
TIMBER RESOURCES ARE VAST
Hemesteads Are Being Taken
Up in Valleys Of Streams
and Parks.

/ tfN4 ~ NNNNN4
Few people, even right here IN
Santa Fe, realize that In the Jemea
National Forest, Just across the Rio
Grande, Is found one OF the richest
grazing and timbered sections of the
Southwest. The Forest proper EN-
traces an area Of $4,000 acres. With
In Its boundaries Is located the Baca
Location No. / Grant, and adjoining
1T are the Canyon de San Diego, the
Polyadera, the Juan Jose LObato, and
the Ramon Vigil Grants, the timber
cd and mountain portions OF which
increase the area OF forest country
lily about 100000 acres.
The Secretary OF Agriculture has
authorized the grazing OF $4,000 head
Of sheep and goats, and $500 head Of
cattle and horses within the forest
during the coming year.. The grazing
fee for sheep and goats has been, dur
ing past years, ten cents per head;
~thirty-ive cents for cattle, and forty
FIVE cents for horses. The House
Committee on Agriculture is at pres.
ont considering a general raise Of
grazing fees, so the rates for the
coming year have not been announc-
ed.
Preliminary estimates OF the timber
resources of the Forest place the
amount of commercial timber at It.
2O0,O 600, 900 feet B. M. Basing the
amount which may be safely cut an
nually on a one hundred veal rotation
the forest Is capable of producing a
sustained annual yield of 12,000,O00
feet. The timber for the most part
is, because of inadequate road faci-
lities, accessible only for strictly local
demand. However, sales to the
amount Of 14.000,0O feet have been
made within the past year from that
portion of the Forest on the east
slope of the mountain lying south
west of Espanola. About o~ne-fourth
of this amount will be heWn into ties
to supply the Denver & Rio Grande
railroad, the balance being manufac-
tured into lumber and loaded at
Buchanan for the gelcran market.
Three smaller mills are operating in
the western portion of the forest,
supplying exclusive local demands OF
the settlers in the forest. 1t is only
by the construction of railroads that
the bulk of the timber will be made
available. This condition is common
to most Of the National Forests of the
country.
Timber Is supplied free to settlers
living within and adjacent to the for
est for fuel and constructive purposes.
The value of timber taken annually
from this forest in this way amounts
to approximately $25,O00.00.
Since the passage Of the Act OF
June III, 1906, which provided for the
restoration to entry Of lands within
the National forests found to be
chiefly valuable for agriculture. about
800 homestead entries have been
made. These tracts are situated for
the most part along narrow valleys.
end in mountain meadows on parks.
They vary in size from 20 to 100
acres. Many of them are suitable
for growing only the harder cereals
and root crops, and are uninhabitable
in winter because of deep snow, which
effectively closes all mountain Dads.
Ninety per cent of the homestead en-
tries are made by the native people
of the region.
The supervisors office at Santa Fe
is connected with the forest by about
125 miles of telephone line, owned
and constructed by the government.
Eleven ranger stations, ranches and
settlements within the forest are con-
nected. It is proposed to extend this
system to include all occupied ram
ger stations, and to all important
settlements within or adjacent to the
forest, thus expediting the transac-
ton Of forest business, and making
possible the more prompt mastering
Of crews for fire fighting. Limited
use of these lines is allowed settlers,
restrictions being necessary to pre-.
vent ofiicial business being crowded
from the line.