The Coconino sun., 1924-05-23

A time was when forests were
deemed the worst enemy of civ.
ilization, and it was a matter of con.
quest to fell them; now long since
they have been recognized as his best
friend, and we are becoming equal.
ly jealous of their preservation
What their preservation means to us
forms the subject matter of this
paper.
The first point which I shall
attempt to discuss is the value of the
forest to the city watershed and
water supply. 1t is automatic tina,
an adequate water supply is vitally
necessary to town. 1t is also a fact
that forests have a very important
bearing upon such a water supply
Especially is this true where the sup
ply of water is taken as is ours from
the surface of the earth, instead of
being pumped from beneath. There
are various ways in which forests af-
feet water supplies but | shall speak
only of the most important.
The matter of forest vegetation.
both below and above the ground,
serves as sponge to absorb and hold
the rain and melting snow. 1t retards
the melting of snow and ice in the
spring and summer, and thus lessons
the devastation by floods and erosion
by allowing time for the percolation
of the water into the soil. Thus the
water, which consequently sinks into
the earth, gradually issues forth in
springs, instead of rushing at once
into the rivers. In this way, forests
equalize the rate of run-off of the
precipitation, moderating both floods
and droughts, and tend to conserve
water for all seasons of the year.
How important these services are
may be judged by the results of de
forestation anywhere, especially in the
hilly parts of the south, where thous-
ands of acres of denuded lands when
left unprotected from heavy precipi-
tation have been turned into 'fbad
lands" as useless as if they were at
the bottom of the sea. Moreover, the
valleys are increasingly ravaged by
floods where the timber has been cur
away, while water powers estimated
at over a million horse power and
worth $20,000,000 year are endag-
cred.
For these very reasons the forest
on the watershed of our city springs
is vitally necessary to the continued
adequate flow from them that is re-
quired to take care of our water sup
ply, present or future. Our present
water famines are directly due to this
very thing that the forest vegetation
tends to prevent-a too rapid run-off.
During the season of high run of the
springs in June and July our reser-
voirs are running over or the pipe
ines cannot carry it down as fast as
t issues forth, or else both these con-
litions exist, as is usually the case.
This not only causes great waste butt
also, through the dry seasons, water
shortages. (In passing / should like
20 say that in my opinion any furth- |
sr development of the city springs |
should be only to conserve all of tire |
water that comes from them and
.qualize the flow but not to do any |
hing that would tend to bring it |
'orth in a shorter space of time.)
AS an example of the effect that |
would have upon our
water supply from the springs in the |
San Francisco Mts., | wish to point |
nut that in 1876 that watershed was |
burned over and apparently no one |
.aised a hand to prevent it. Accord |
ng to the best information that can |
,e had, the run-off was so rapid for |
few years that the flow from the
springs -shrank to a very small percent |
# their former capacity. The preven-
ion of fires on this area during the |
asst twenty-five years has allowed |
lature to again establish a covering
# vegetation, and gradually the water
torage capacity of the soil is being
,uilt up in the manner have explain
d above. Moreover, a forested sur
ace cooled by constant evaporation,
S better condenser of moisture, and
5 therefore less liable to prolong
rought, than surface Of bare rock
n soil. 1t is therefore imperative
hat we guard with great care the
orests on our city watershed.
The economic value CT our forests
ere to the community might be di-
ided as follows: First, the direct
inancial returns, second the business
by the numbering industry,
nd third business realized from them
S recreational grounds.
In 1923 the combined earnings of I
Il the national forests of The U. S.
ras $5,335,00
Annual receipts from the CoconinO
crest alone amount to from $115,- 4
90 to $165,000.
Of these amounts Arizona last year
eceived $135,000.
Coconino county received direct
rom state for the road and school
md about $4,000
And in addition the forest service
oent ON roads within the forests, last
ear, about $4,000.
Total direct income to the COM
unity about $95,000.