Arizona republican., 1914-07-08
National Forests of Arizona
and New Mexico Receive
Allotment to Be Expend-
ed Exclusively for Range
Betterment
WORK COVERS
BROAD FIELD
Is Divided into Thre e
Branches, Protective, Ad-
ministrative and Range
Improvements Some Of
Things to Be Done
Especial to The Republican,

ALBUQUERQUE, July Every
year congress appropriates a specific
| fund for permanent improvements on
the national forests. For the fiscal
year commencing July l. 1914, and
ending June 80, 1915, district OF
the forest service, comprising the
national forests of New Mexico, Ari-
IONA and Oklahoma. has received an
allotment of $4,000 to be expended
exclusively for protective, administra-
tive and range improvements.
Protective improvements include
telephone lines, roads, trails, bridges,
fire breaks, lookout towers, cabins
and shelters for lookout men and
patrolmen, and fire tool boxes.
Administrative improvements COM
prise improvements that are needed
bv the regular administrative force
and include houses or cabins for the
rangers. barns and pastures for the
rangers horses, wells, windmills,
tanks. cisterns and other improve
ments of a miscellaneous nature.
Range Improvements refer to drift
! fences, which are constructed for the
purpose of confining cattle grazing
to certain ranges, water development
projects such as the construction Of
earthen tanks to open up unused
ranges. the development Of springs
I by cleaning them out and piping wa
| ter to troughs. and corrals for hold
ing cattle on the open range and
branding calves.
In addition to the allotment of $45,-
| 900. ten per cent of the receipts Of
the forests will b available for the
construction of roads within the for
ests. The amounts received from this
source for the fiscal year commenc-
| ing July l, 1912, and ending June 30
1913, was s39,S9SO7 apportioned as
| follows: New Mexico. $12, ,5l4.99: Ari-
IONA, $27113S0; Oklahoma, $2692S
| Thus, it will be seen that the amount
annually available for permanent i'm
provements is approximately $S4.-
S9S.07. depending. of course, on the
amount of annual receipts as well as
| the amount appropriated by con-
gress.
The total acreage of national for
ests in district 3 is 2O,163.277 acres.
exclusive of lands owned by the
state corporate interests and private
| individuals Based on this figure, the
annual cost of Improvements per acre
is approximately $O0042. Strictly
speaking, this is an investment
charge. vet the returns in dollars and
cents would be extremely difficult to
ascertain. 1t is known, however, that
roads may make accessible large
bodies of timber which otherwise
would not be sold, telephone lines by
reason of rapid communication may
be the means of saving thousands of
feet of timber from fire. likewise
roads and trails with permit of ready
access to country that otherwise
would mean serious delay and great
loss in case of fires To develop
water on unused ranges permits the
grazing of more cattle. or sheep and
likewise increases grazing receipts.
OF the 900 allotment, approxi-
mately $4,000 will be expended for
protective improvements. over 200
miles of new telephone lines will be
constructed and the existing tele-
phone lines which total about 1900
miles will be maintained. Approx
mately 100 miles of new trails will
be constructed and existing trails re-
paired
One project of unusual interest will
consist of a thorough clearing and
disposal of inflammable material
along the so-called Scenic road that
runs from the FL Tovar hotel at the
Grand Canyon to Hermit Point about
nine miles west of the Grand Canyon
station. The sum of $1,000 has al
ready been expended on this project
and with the amount now available,
it is planned to complete the work.
The object, of course of this project
is simply a precautionary measure in
the protection of the timber along
the rim of the Grand Canyon from
fire. The clearing will constitute an
effective fire break in case of fires.
Another project that deserves spe-
cial mention is a drift fence on the
Apache National forest in Arizona
The fence will separate the lower
gramma grass range. from the So
called bunch grass range-the idea
being to keep cattle on the summer
ranges (bunch grass until the wealth
er conditions in the mountains are
such as to make it necessary for the
cattle to be removed to the ranges
at the lower attitudes AS conditions
are now, the cattle drift to the
gramma grass after the first summer
rains and will remain there Thus.
their logical winter range is used
out of season with the result that