Show RESOURCES OF LA SAL NATIONAL FOREST PORTRAYED IN LETTER supervisor A C polster has recently received a number of requests from high school students throughout the state asking for information relative to the resources of the la sal national forest which information Is used by the schools in the study of the wealth of utah supervisor folster has compiled a letter giving the information requested and covering in detail the various features of the lasal forest the letter constans many facts which will prove interesting to times inde pendent readers and we are pleased to ghe space to portions of it as follows the la sal forest located in southeastern utah with a small portion extending into colorado has a gross area of acres jt comprises two divisions the south division including he abajo or blue and the elk mountain ranges and the north division including the lofty peaks and mesas of the la sal mountains the forest land ranges in altitude from to feet the two divisions are widely separated and are sur rounded by wide arid and semiarid semi arid stretches of pubic domain where thousands of cattle and sheep are grazed during the winter months mount peale the pyramid amongst the la sal group towers upward of ap proximately feet from its lofty height a panoramic view is obtained of the great colorado river and the immense stretch of broken sandstone mesa country along its bank from where it enters the grard at moab thence in a sou h westerly direction for hundreds of miles along its meandering course to the sea the entire forest Is wither the colorado river system the topography of which is extremely varied the higher mountain areas are typical of the mountainous mouna inous west but below their rugged peaks the region is quite dissimilar to the average low areas on most other forests it being of the mesa or plateau formation broken ato at frequent intervals by deep box can the famous natural bridget of san juan are reached by crossing a portion of the la sal forest 1 the main streams on the forest are as follows mill creek and pack creek comprise the principal watershed on the west sope of the la sal mountains moun tans flow ng into the colorado river through the town of moab la sal creek paradox creek geyser creek and south beaver creek comprise the watershed on the south and east slope of the la sal moun ains and flow in an easterly direction nto colorado and there empty into the dolores river and finally into the colorado river north and south montezuma Mont zuma creeks spring creek indian creek cottonwood creek recapture creek and verdure creek on the south division furnish water for the communities of monticello verdure and blanding there Is considerable erosion on the south division of the forest and the watersheds being rather steep and short very few of the streams are suitable for fish culture on the north division however the streams are more favorable tor fishing and there are a few of game fish such as rainbow eastern brook and native or cut throat trout to be found the most important ambr species and the approximate stand of each which have been determined by a timber made on this forest some few years ago for size only are as follows Wt estem yellow pine alnus ponderosa ft B M engelmann spruce alcea engelman ali ft B M white fir ables ft B M douglas fir taxi tolla ft B M it Is estimated that about three quarters of a million feet of green western yellow pine timber will be cut this year by small sawmills tor use on the ranches and in the small towns adjacent to the forest there Is no insect infestation on the forest but large stands of our western yellow fmc timber are badly infested with mistletoe in order to rid our timber stands of this parasitic growth it Is I 1 necessary to sacrifice the method of selective cutting in our woods operations several years ago artificial reforestation was practiced on a very limited scale on this forest on a few of the cut over areas however in re cents years since we have a much better control over our grazing situation artificial reforestation has not been practiced the natural reproduction under good forestry management Is sufficient to assure a perpetual supply of timber for future needs the tire hazard on the la sal forest is very small averaging approximately three fires annually these are principally man caused and lightning fires grazing on the la sal forest Is the major activity and approximately 14 cattle and horses and 40 sheep are grazed on the forest during the summer months in view of the topographic features surrounding thi forest and the method of handling stock in this section of the country we do not have absolute control of the excess stock situation and therefore we have some over grazed areas however in general the ranges of t la sal forest are improving quite materially teri ally we have one permit on the la sal forest for approximately 70 head of cattle which is the largest cattle permit in the united states the principal forage plants on this forest include several species of grasses such as the red top wheat grasses brome grasses rye grasses blue grama grasses peas satan lan and there are several species each kind of grasses the principal i weeds are the yarrow dandelion coli ubbine indian paint brush aster daisy balsom root mustard wild cellery vetch wild carrot honeysuckle mountain sunflower and wild pea there are also several poisonous plants such as the tall larkspur lupine or wild bean death caisa monkshood several species of loco and the sneezeweed the principal browse species are the service berry sage i brush shad scale yellow brush rabbit brush brigham tea chokecherry wild currant birch leaf mahogany bitter brush oak anish snow berry rose bush wild grape and greasewood in our office herbarium we have approximately plant specimens which do not by any means cover nearly all ohp different species that are on the la sal forest in view of this tact 1 shall attempt to enumerate only such plants as have an economic value in our grazing resources the principal game birds on the forest are the ruffled grouse pheasant and quail the alnore common species of song or common bird are the robin wren cat i bird swallow sparrow crow blue jay woodpecker several species of hawks and owls humming birds and some bald alws humming birds and some bald the principal game animals are the mule deer mountain sheep and bear the fur bearing animals are the red fox mink martin muskrat beaver weasel skunk civit cat and badger the predatory animals are the coyote lynx cat cougar wolf and porcupine climatic conditions of the forest i are practically the same as in central I 1 utah our average precipitation over i the entire forest Is approximately the same as in central utah varying from i 12 to 18 inches the summers are rather hot and dry particularly is I 1 this the case on the ranges adjacent i to he forest the winters are rather i model ate th jovn of moab located on the colorado river has a climate very allar to loutham utah in the vicinity of st george and Is very i productive for all horticultural and agricultural products |