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Show THE BEAVER (Utah) PRESS Thursday, September 27, 1973 s m sign is misleading. From the appearance of this junction it would seem Is closed at this point. s that The road . Such Is not the case. is open to Puffer Lake and be yond to many fine fishing and camping places. Bob and Marge Schramm complain that this type of signing has accounted for loss of business this year. They say that they have told customers to come In by way of junction onlv to have them turn back I when confronted be signs saying when confronted by signs saying took to mean closed at that point. 'ROAD CLOSED 5 U-1- 53 " Last Thursday I joined Mayor Palce and Councllmen Roberts, Palce and Smith for a tour of the Beaver Forest. We were hosted by Forest Supervisor Reed Chrlstensen, Ranger Floyd Bart-let- t, and J. D. Osborne and Ron Wilson of the Forest Service. This was a fine opportunity for me as I had a number of questions about operation of the forest which I was able to get ' answers for. For some time I have wondered as to how one would go about getting a permit to cut firewood. This can be done by merely asking at the office. You can remove as much as 5 cords with no charge (for personal use) or as much as you want for commercial use at $2.00 per cord. We are all aware that the cost of lumber has gone up and that the cost of the timber has gone up also, what I didn't know was that our county gets a share of that money. After the costs of reforestation are deducted, the remainder of the money from a timber sale is sent to the national treasury where of it Is returned to the county from which the timber came. Recent sales of timber In this area should bring as much as $50,000 to Beaver County. (We hope part of lt can find Its way Into Improvements on the road - it's getting really bad. On e of the main areas we looked at was the cutting areas. At first glance they look pretty bad. Trees and brush is all over the place In a massive confusion. We then went to another site where the brush had been burned off and all that was left were the smaller logs - Quaking Aspen, etc, which hadn't burned. ' They had also finished planting the new seedling spruce In this At first glance I must cut. admit that I wondered to myself why they hadn't finished the job and cleaned that up too. then I took a closer look and opened up my ears to discover that the downed logs and stumps serve a purpose, helping to prevent erosion and that in reality the only thing they hurt was my eyes. - Energy and resources agency. Such an agency might well be able to effect savings in admini- Much has been said about clear cutting and I thought that I had known what it meant - having seen lt in Idaho and Oregon. I wasn't, however, preparedfor the appearance of a clear cut area in spruce. Here, because of the age of the trees as well as the presence of Aspen, etc. it is necessary to knock down everything. This leaves an area of brush and poles which must be seen to be believed. It is needed though In order to clear the area for new seedlings. The smaller trees which you would expect to begin to grow as soon as the big ones are removed just don't do it. They are so old that they have passed their growing stage and If left will just stand there until a wind knocks them down or the bugs get to stration but I have sincere question as to it's ability to better manage the resources. It looks to me that It would be wiser to make those changes which are Indicated on the ground level and save the massive top reorganization lest we find that we have done ourselves Into a less than good position. Our present agencies are doing a good job - let's be sure we dont build a new agency which will be less responsive to the people and less able to do the work than what we presently have. Another real problem has come about thru the Ecology laws. The Forest Service must now do all their dumping of solid waste such as that which fills the garbage cans In the camping area to an approved dumping area. That means that they must haul the garbage from Beaver Canyon all the way to Richfield to dump it. That, coupled with a cut back In funding together with inflation has caused a real bind. There Is some 30 lessmoney to do the work and now much added expense. They will have to buy or build large trucks to make the long haul and then mailer trailers for use in the canyon - probably eliminating the garbage cans and parking a trailer In each camping area. This means that there will be less money for new toilets and camping tables and generally less ' facilities. My feeling is that the best would be to discontinue the garbage service and that those of us who carry things into the forest should be responsible to carry those things out again. Then the Forest Service could use their money to do things which you and I as individuals are less able to do for ourselves. them. By clearing and burning, the ground is left ready for new growth and the bugs are left with no place to be. With the need this country has for timber it appears we will have to adopt those methods which will bring about the most growth the soonest - leaving only certain areas for eye feasting. One of the main uses of tills forest area is summer grazing for cattle. This is now being done by a system. One year the allotment is grazed heavy all summer, then the next year the cattle are kept off until the grasses have matured and the seed ripened. Then the cows come in and eat the grass and trample the 6eed Into. the earth. .. The following, year the cows, are, kept off while the new grass gets started. They believe that this Is the most effective way to manage that resource. One bad looking spot Is Big Flat where this year a grasshopper infestation took over. It was a very enjoyable day and I hope that many of you folks will have an opportunity to go over the area with Forest representatives and hearwhat they have to say. One thing othg was discussed only slightly - that Is the proposals to combine the Forest Service with the BUM and the National Parks Service In a new one-fou- rth rest-rotati- on . r i Vf t 2 - ' ikt-'h,-t'Ai- - 1 At- These trees were blown down by high winds last winter and this soring. They had been left as a shield to help hide a 'clear l& cut' area from view. ' 'W? PglfW&ymi' i: i t A 'Clear cut' rt ready for bum- - ? lng. All th trees, no matter how small ar cut down, clear . M . f 11 arounuJ u- iuu arv ouui areas weather the when and area then, Is rlcht the area li burned, i The poles shown art offered for ale by the Forest Service rt reasonable price a 5c each) for . anyone who want to come and ' get them,' that tills is because of their ad- vanced age. Aspen have little commercial value but hog water. fflms&m!Amrr&? m$vg!zmi'$.i& fEw; y y w s v- Pesticides Safer Than Autos In Illinois, one of the nation's most intensive farming states, only one death in the past 10 years was caused by agricultural use of pesticides. By contrast, 2,353 persons died from motor vehicle accidents in one year alone. i ,t rj, ! ; found that smaller trees do not have growth potential when larger trees are removed. K Is thought old, the smaller spruce (about 6 Inches in diameter) is close to 100 years old. Mixed In with the spruce tire quaking aspen and much dead wood. Tests have Typical condition found In the old stands ofSprucelntheTusher Mountains Is shown here. The larger spruce (about 18 Inches In diameter) is about 180 years 4L 1 X 'Jm i(liX?;3 'trU?y3f VW?-'- 111 l'jr'tr ? l'."'., ( J X I ' Vy Ti & , ' U " ' 'Jts', J&ZtiV ' A f'4, - . W'i!!Tta,A 'dear ' - ' 4, ' - : " T . 'I I?' ,' ;w . ' S I - , ' cut' areaatterbtiralnz The criss-crosslogs left are unsIghUy to look at but help to "control erosion till new grass " . begins to grow. Then the wood "..will decay adding mulch to the ed " Iportlnsect growth. 1 :LV.'-Wrtt- ' v. ' - ;"- - 'V"-".- economic of the young 3 V ::,vlk1i ' V TrU V.i'A'W For ' '- -i - reawnsextr- .- tres wer pianuw mag trees when they are way. " V T ! -- ? (w .3 - , V " ' |