The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-11-13
WHAT NATIONAL FORESTS MEAN
TO THE NTERM0INTAN REGION

Most Of the population Of the Inter
mountain region Of Utah, Idaho, Ne
vada, and Wyoming is crowded close
to the high mountain masses covered
by National Forest lands. Why the
communities in this region cling to
the skirts Of the great mountains IS
explained in what the National For
ests Mean to the IntermOuntain Re-
giOn," just issued by the United
States department Of agriculture as
Miscellaneous Circular No. AZ. Though
at first glance the fundamental
wealth Of the region seems concen-
trated in the few rich irrigated farm
ing lands, the mining communities,
and the cities, much Of it in reality
comes down from the mountains
which are the sources Of wood and
water.
Abundant Water Power
Gone of the characteristics Of the
region" says the bulletin, els the
prevalence of electric light and pow
er in all the small towns in the vi
cinity of the mountains. The secret
lies in the abundance of water power
derived from never-failing streams
emerging from the canyons. Utah
alone has 81 power plants driven by
water. Within the in~termOuntain re-
giOn it has been estimated. that be-
tween 2,75O,OOO and 5,25O,00O horse
power may be developed. Of this
amount about half is within the Ma
ticnal forests and the remainder upon
the large rivers which have their
origin in the high mountain lands COW
cred by these forests"
More than $4,000 irrigated farms,
in the intermOuntain region, produc-
ing crops annually worth approx
mately S14O,OO0,00O draw their water
from the national forests. The min
ing industry, from the time of the
gold rush in the romantic days Of '49.
down to the present, has depended on
the forests Of these mountain lands
fer mine timbers, fuel, and building
material. The present cut of timber
IN the region amounts to about 20O,-
100000 board feet annually Of which
about One-fifth ZONES from the ma
tional forests.
In addition to the wood and water
the mountain lands within the ma
tiOnal forests supply forage for over
100000 sheep and 100000 cattle
Even now the fur trade is of no small
Importance, and the beaver are in
creasing under protection.
Protection From Floods
Of special Importance and interest
is the effect Of the protection by for
est cover of the watersheds in con-
trolling floods. This may be indicated
by the experience which the town Of
Manti in Utah went through. "Some
20 years ago." says the bulletin
when the watershed had been sub
jected to Overgrazing and fires, be
fore it had national forest protection
floods were extremely frequent and
destructive, rushing cut of the can
yOn above the town and doing great
damage not only to the town itself
but to the fertile fields located on
the alluvial fan at the mouth Of the
canyon. In a few years damage es-
timated as high as S125,O0O was done
Conditions got so bad that some Of
the more pessimistic of the inhabi-
tants talked seriously of moving away
and abandoning the town, because
they believed it was destined to be
forever subject to destructive flood;
and that prosperity could never exist
there. After the creation of the Man
n National Forest, in 1904, the water
shed was carefully protected from
Overgrazing, fires, and destructive use
generally. AS a result, at the pres.
ent time Manti Canyon is singularly
free from floods. The water is ever
and the town prosperous.