Show erosion control work progressing on ranges r reporter makes trip of inspection over ground where work of rehabilitating ranges is being carried on by IL E R blake it was the privilege of the writer to make a trip over the sov so ibern part of the county recently recen ay lly iy in company with stir crin J it at orr jr of camp rg DG 31 34 the first object of the trip was to get a firsthand picture of the work being carried on by the boys for purposes of comparison with other public works to say tat I 1 la arns v ns a refreshing revelation is but putting it mildly we found that a great majority of he boys in the camp have come from the cities of the east with which the work is being done we foura found them at work driving freskos fresnos fres nos handling tractors using axes and adzes addes in the shaping of water troughs from immense logs and doing other work which really requires some skill for good performance while much of the credit for thel the skilled work that has been accomplished 1 must of course be attributed to competent supervision and direction by the foremen under whom the work is being done yet no small measure of credit should be given to the boys boks themselves who as a rule have shown they are adaptable to whatever kind ot of labor they are called on to do in fact we may s say ay with i ou on fear of contradiction that as a whole the boys of the camps aie ai are e a fine lot of average american citizens willing and apt and before fore going farther we must note that as a rule they realize that they are get mg ing experiences that will be of value I 1 to them in after life on visiting the erosion control work at verdure and on white mesa we saw as thorough jobs of dam build ing as can be found anywhere the verdure dam was built with a clay center with a slope of two to one water side of the structure stone ral ping covers overs the whole face of the dain while on the down stream side there has been placed lines of rock to check aluff stuffing ing from rains and the tramping of stock above the darn dam a series of filter dams have been constructed ted in the main and side chan ads of the wash to retard silt flow and keep thedarae the dam dara from filling the same method has been used in the construction of the white mesa dam where some 24 filter dams were constructed ted above the dam A crew was seen engaged in constructing ting a truck trail connecting blending blanding with montezuma canyon which when completed will make accessible by truck the whole southeastern range section of san juan county the trail is being constructed edwith i with the sams same view to permanency as are the dams for water storage and erosion control where washes are crossed and cu lverts and bridges are necessary cribbing of fedar cedar logs has been used insuring the longest 1 life possible with wood construction at lime creek some fifty miles I 1 south of blanding anding BI was visited a fly camp where some 40 of the boys are engaged in constructing roads trails and reservoirs to make more accessible the ou lying ranges of that i end of the county and to batth th the 1 i flood waters from the surrounding gi ledges and highlands stop its destructive tive washing of the soil and make large sections of range avail 1 i able to livestock which heretofore was almost useless to livestock on I 1 j account of the lack of water space is too limited to give a complete description of the work being done but if the government at washington and congress can only I 1 j vision the ultimate good to the ranges that will accrue and the ultimate resources i that will be opened up with j the broadening of this his work the day will not he be far distant when two head of livestock can be maintained on the same area that will sr scarcely arcely support one at present resources of I 1 i minerals inaccessible now will be available to the world scenic attract I 1 i eions will be accessible to the nature lover bird and wild game life will return as it was when the first white man came like a ravening wolf and exterminated it and in short the des ert will bloom like a rose let congress give the aid to this work ork by appropriations as it has given to the national park service and to the reclamation service an am within a few years the deserts of the west will be no more |