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Show i The Dixie National Forest, "Land of the Rainbow Canyons", stretches 170 miles across southern Utah. Ele- vations vary from 2,800 feet near i St. George, Utah's "Dixie", to 11,314 ! at Brian Head. ! High altitude forest and gently rolling hills characterize the Mark-agunt, Mark-agunt, Paunsaugunt, and Aquarius Plateaus. Boulder Mountain, one of the largest and highest plateaus in the United States, is dotted with hundreds of small lakes ten to eleven ele-ven thousand feet above sea level. The beauty of these forested lands is a sharp contrast to the colored col-ored cliffs and steep walled gorges of the Colorado River canyons. Nearly 400 camp units are conveniently conven-iently located on the Dixie National Nation-al Forest to serve the traveler. The Brian Head ski area provides a new winter spot for the Cedar City area. Navajo and Panguitch Lakes are among the many fishing attractions attrac-tions found in this" forest. The Sevier, Se-vier, Escalante, Fremont and Santa San-ta Clara Rivers' headwaters are found on the Dixie National Forest. For-est. Cities, towns and industry on the valley floor depend on these mountain waters. Ponderosa pine and Engelmann spruce forests provide a sustained flow of logs for the sawmills of southern Utah. Twenty-five million board feet of timber are cut on this forest annually. The estimated worth of this industry to the general gener-al economy is $2.5 million. Four hundred farm and ranch families depend upon the Dixie National Na-tional Forest's summer grazing lands to raise 20,000 cattle and 28,-000 28,-000 sheep. Extensive oil and gas deposits are found here as well as coal and iron ore. Over one million acres on the Dixie National Forest have been leased for oil exploration in the last few years, and there are five active oil wells. Hunters harvest 11,000 deer an nually from the land of the Dixie National Forest. Cooperation between be-tween the Utah State Department of Fish and Game and Forest Service Ser-vice provides for management of fisheries and game habitat to produce pro-duce maximum numbers of fish and game for harvest by sportsmen. Ruffed grouse, blue grouse and sage grouse, as well as the introduced species, chukar partridge and wild turkey add to the hunting enjoyment. enjoy-ment. The combination of these important import-ant and interrelated uses add greatly great-ly to the yearlong economy of Iron County. Camping on the Dixie National Forest provides many hours of pleasurable outdoor recreation for thousands every year. Logging industry is an important phase of the Forest Service area. Controlled cutting and proper management is geared to insure continued con-tinued productivity as well as maintain beauty. I -v ill The ultimate in outdoor enjoyment is away from the crowds in the refreshing coolness of the forest area. Here a group of riders pause to enjoy a real delight, a meal cooked over a campfire. Forest maintained roads provide access to many recreational areas on the Dixie National Forest including lakes and streams, camping facilities. |