Arizona republican., 1922-06-25
MANY ROADS BEING
BUILT IN NATIONAL
FOREST RESERVES

ALBUQUERQUE, June 24-One
hundred and sixty roads and $40
miles of trails will be constructed
by the U. S. forest service in the
Arizona and New Mexico national
forests during this and next summer.
In addition, large mileage of for
est, state and county highways will
| be built and repaired by the U. S.
bureau of public roads and the state
and county authorities.
The mountain roads, for the most
| part, are short stretches leading from
the main highways into the forests.
They will make accessible to auto
| much of the fine mountain scenery.
good hunting and fishing, and will
allow rapid transportation in case of
| forest fires.
| The trails after construction will
allow the public to take many inter-
| esting horseback trips in comfort and
without the danger of becoming lost
| in the mountains. They will also
! be of immense Importance in reach
| ing fires which may occur in the
\ IIlOSl ludCCSsSlplS pOIllUIS VI the I'D :
! tional forests.
The Importance of good trails can
not be overestimated for quick action
on forest fires. In fact. the saving
| in cost of handling fire by being
able to reach it quickly over a good
| trail may often exceed the cost of
/ construction of the trail. The trails
| allow the rangers to reach the fires
before they become large and hard
| to handle.
A case in point was a recent fire
| northwest of Silver City, n. M, in
| the Mogollon mountains on the Gila
national forest. Located 35 miles
| from the nearest settlement in a very
| rough country and burning fiercely
and rapidly under high wind, the
| fire looked discouraging. Yet within
IL hours IL men were fighting it and
/ within "A hours 80 men were on the
ground Fire tools and food for both
men and horses also had been
brought over the forest trails. and
the fire, even though 1t had burned
over about 1000 acres was soon con-
| trolled.
Forest officers state that had it
not been for the trail system, there
! is no telling how large this fire would
have become before it would have
| been controlled, since it would have
| taken probably twice as long to get
| the men to it. AS it was, the trails
were in good condition and so well
/ posted that none of the men became
| lost in going to the fire. although
some of them had never been in this
! country before
There is much of the mountain
| country, however. where there are no
| trails or where they are so poor that
/ travel over them is difficult and ex-
ceedingly slow. 1t is this condition
| which ii is now proposed to remedy
with the funds at present available.
| While the trails are being built pri-
/ marily for fire protection. forest of
! ficers hope that they will be used
| also by hunting and fishing parties
and by those people who merely de-
sire to get into the back country to
enjoy the mountain scenery.
/ Tucson people will be especially in
| terested in the construction of the
roads through the Canelo hills and
! into MADEIRA Canyon. The latter will
make more accessible this beautiful
| canyon where already / .mber of
summer homes have been built
| other short stretches of road on the
| Coronado national forest are also to
| be improved
/ Of interest to many people in the
| Salt River valley and of Prescott
| is the work to be done on the Sem
| ator highway from Nenetia to be-
| yond Bueno. This will make another
| section of the Prescott forest avail
| able to campers and picnickers. A
road is also to be built to the top
of Mingus mountain, where the peo-
| pie of Jerome and the Verde valley
| will find cool place to visit during
the hot summer months.
The fine mountain country on the
Colorado plateau within the Coconino
national forest will be made quite
accessible from the south by the re-
construction of the Strawberry Hill
| leading into Long valley and a
| stretch of bad road south of Mormon
lake
On the national forests in other
portions of the state, road work has
already commenced and will con-
| tinue throughout the summer. 1t is
| the plan of the forest service to
continue road building each year un-
til the forests are readily accessible
Leading from the secondary roads
into the rougher portions of the ma
| tional forests of the state, complete
trail system will ultimately put all
portions of the forests readily in
reach of horseback travel. This sys-
tenn is too extensive to be completed
in one year, although many trails
will be in first-class shape before
the end of the summer. 1t is pro-
posed also to mark the trails plainly
in order that no no will get lost.
Forest officials encourage the use
of the national forests by all who
can get into them. They point out
however. that the mountains are now
dryer than they have been for many
years and that the least carelessness
by smokers or with camp fires may
cause serious loss of timber, grass
and possibly even human life