| Show L r A X M MI Fr j r rt r I t What the Forest Reserves Mean 1 y I X I to theW of Utah Utan Utani 1 t tj i j BY SENATOR SENA TOR GEORGE SUTHERLAND r 1 I I 1 I 1 I Ir r 1 1 I 1 I IJ J 1 1 s j I I I 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 J 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I j 1 1 i i 1 i I I J 1 1 I I general Government occupies j THE pies to tho public lands land u t 1 twofold relationship that of ot of ot proprietor i t tIn In Its capacity of ot It du dries s and punishes offenses deemed d i Injurious to its domain an n tor It ond Its 1 property Perhaps the mot example of ot Its itA exercise of ot this latter laUer 1 the passage e of ot tha Irrigation law under which 1 millions ot acres I of ot land otherwise condemned L to 10 perpetual 1 aridity will willbo 1 bo turned Into fruitful farms und made homes for tor tho people Second only In Importance to 1 Is II tho act of March larch 3 1501 of or c ly Iy half a dozen lines empowering tho y public I Ito to set lIet apart IlIJ anil In ut or territory land covered In III or In purt with 1111 timber or lIr 1 Out of this brief en enactment there thero has haM grown up In tho th last 11 years n 1 ys tern tun ot at forest for ell ad all by men of broad mid attainments and alii resulting In III a 1 complete com pIe to revolution the tho privileges enjoyed by bythe bYthe the citizen In the Iho u ue of the Die timber and l ot of the United 1 to that time cattle and 1 to feed feell upon um Ihn pub j jIk Ik lie lands land with no j und while hud X to 0 rc and curtail tho j vf Umber Immense fur X had be n awl anil ruined liy nn Improvident who X t tonly only of own OIl und 1 careless of tho needs of oC future futuro X 1 Thus Thu It AI that In III the tho j mountain regions of state a tow fol X year ngo O the the rail road tie contractor the lumber J men 1 the rich SENATOR GEORGE SUTHERLAND i from Crom the lid the treel of ot larger er leaving In their piles of tops find blanches became like tinder In the tho summer ji months month arid from which vast foie t l Uns to complete the work of devastation The put ut In j to the tho mountain pasture SWO head ot of heep only 1000 could be ranged without Injury to t the une UHe of ot 1 1 the lands t tj i The Tho lumber men and the tho sheep owner each proceeded upon the tho theory that the essential cl thing for him to do i iwas 1 was 11 to make the most of ot Ills present opportunities lI and next year eur hu ho could move hi hl saw mill or hi hili lock l j If It the lumberman had likewise been Jeen the owner of ot the forest lands which he exploited c and If tho had hod J 1 been tho owner of the tha pasture upon up which his hili sheep heep were ted fed they thoy would both 11 have proceeded proceed ell differently Tha I lumberman would have hae selected the mature trees treel for or cutting lie He would have luw looked lId carefully after Ater the ne i 1 I growth Ho lIe would hav removed all ull the tha lopped oft off branches so as IlA to prevent t the spread of forest Ires He lIe would j j i 1 have watched with jealous eyes cel to 10 discover dl cover and destroy every Mery Incipient blaze In III other words word he would have con J that the tho forest which he owned was a great and permanent Investment III t which should nut only afford him an t 1 Income but should be made to yield a 1 revenue for tor his hili children to come litter after him The would have X 1 I realized that upon the future lands ho lie owned must his hll flock be ted fed not only this year and next year rear but V 1 for a II vast valt number of ot years ears to como come and nn t that If he exhausted them In a R few hili sheep ultimately would perish and so he would have pastured upon his hl lands enough sheep to eel et the full ull of ot their herbage but X 1 I not enough to ruin them for tutule Ubo u so Now precisely what the thee two Iwo thrifty thrift gentlemen would have dono had they been the owner own of ot th the lands 1 Instead In of oC the licensees of a generous government Is II the tha thing which the government go Itself Is III doing through Us It j system 1 of ot forest The government does doel not object to tho USE of ot iu It I timber lands by Us lis it X object to the of ot them Tim does not object to the tha OR AXING of sheep and ond cattle upon Its ij j pasture pa turo lands 11 It objects to It says 1 to Its III citizens These lh Ie lands must be used by you OU as I a X t f prudent und mUll mun would use ule own on lands that Is I with a 0 view vIti to t gilt get the utmost b belle na naX X fit from them consistent with their preservation for or benefits as wall 11 Not only that but these thele lands land X XA A constitute water gathering area of the tate state and upon the preservation of ot their utility for this purpose depends X the productiveness of at the va valleys below and the health growth anti and development deelo of ot the Ih towns villages and j I es which derive their water supply Your use IIse must therefore likewise be consistent with the pre preX X serration both In quality and quantity of the waters which theae mountain lands supply and conserve cons re reIn A In this tho water gathering anta nr and the water distributing area nuwt bo regarded Hoarded as aa a unit J X i the tha use Ue of ot the former must always bo in recognition of at the Imperious Imperio claim s of ot the latter The beneficial effect 1 A upon tho water supply of or our Utah communities by b forest foiest reservation cannot well be lie exaggerated It Is I more 1 I X J pronounced than In any other part of ot the arid region If H any anyone one will a 11 map of oC this state lie he will willS ff S see that beginning at nt lie boundary line between Utah Idaho Inho there is a chain of ot valleys ex as al far ar X south as tho town of ot Salina These valleys contain the tho great grent bulk of the population of ot the state constitute the tha very heart h It of ot the agricultural arm a rAil The villages towns t and cities In these thello valleys lIes nestle the eust eustA 1 A sni II foothills of the mountains and from these mountains they their water supply through a ay aI y I series of small sparkling mountain streams It Is a comparatively short distance from the to th the rim X of ot the mountains the water basin buln of ot each elleh of ot these streams Is IH of Rm extent They are arc y r f to local Influences fwd and quickly quick to comparatively Blight changes In local condition both loth re 18 reX 1 X 9 the quality and the quantity of ot water which they furnish If It the mountain lands overgrazed If X 1 In the early spring when full of ot moisture from melting the soil Is pocked hard and linn firm by b the pre prell preA A C euro luro of ot Innumerable animal feet If tho Iho r A and under growth eaten out and destroyed d If IC the forests I are taken from the hill hili sides the result I must he lie a II great ruih of ot water tn 11 th parl part of the thc your Some 1 I X times floods and then n 1 shortage u 0 water In tho summer months when It U Is most needed J X I 1 A very ery Birthing example I e la I I furnished by b the experience of ot the town ton of Mantl Vor Ifor many earll l J JI j had visited and Injured that community The fact that In the early ear spring large numbers of ot 1 I X 1 were brought Into tho th canyon from which the water supply Is derived and which canyon U Is very ery 1 with steeply rising sides and an l that the undergrowth and herbage was wal almost il eg t toyed ed and the soil upon the 1 i X mountain sides Will was packed hard hartl firm waa WM thought to 1 responsible While I was serving a at a member Y 1 of the houle tn III 1902 the matter matler was wal brought to my m attention by the of ot Mantl and I laid It the I he 1 X secretary of ot the tho Interior under whose who department the forestry Coree t 1 service thin was with the result that the thu cun I i yon ron was reserved j temporarily put under the control of ot tha tho town authorities pending the creation of ot the larg I b tr I reserve which now Includes It and cattle and sheep entirely entire excluded My I Information Is that the Ule Y jj j result reut has hIlS been boen most satisfactory he water flow haa h been laen equalized and no flood nood has lias since occurred A Tho forest reserve re erve system Stem therefore operate most profoundly and In favor of ot the and conservation of the th water supply which I II the very life liCe of the state It Is undoubtedly true that thal the X 1 system has haa to t soma extent e Interfered with the sheep Interest the number which formerly fed upon the moun X r tain lands has hall been very ery curtailed X Sometime I think the department has hag been be n too exacting In its It restrictions but a more liberal order 1 X 1 has hM usually been made mado when attention lias been bean directed dh to It Some hardship has resulted to sheep owners It Is always the case when sweeping and radical changes chan s of ot the tho character In question arc QI made that 1 X t in jr and hardship result to some lOin people pl until they the ore Ire able to adjust l to tho new order of ot things A It ha hB been one pathetic consequence of at the great Industrial advancement of at the 60 50 years that ai 81 hn X proved method of dohl thing wore discovered as al labor saving machines Invented mid Imd adopted work workmen men In the old method were thrown out of ot employment and temporary resulted Ad X j of o any an kind I II by Uy the tho more or lees leas painful struggle of ot readjustment of oC old 1 ff to new conditions The he p of ot Utah ore are now passing through that struggle Th forest r erve 1 A 1 system B haa put un end to unrestricted grazing upon the public domain for tor all 11 time to come The rhe sheep owner oner y must make up hit wind mind to that fact He who causes l two blade of at to prow graIl where litre only one grew frel lie I J X tore fore ha hall been called il sed The of ot Utah must t emulate this example by cutting down Iown th the num ber of their l and Rn so tIO Improving the quality an SA to make two pounds of ot wool 1001 grow upon backs where only 1 X 1 one grown before A 1 jj 1 |
