Forest Reserves of North America
In the United States something over 100,000 square miles of the public domain has been set aside and reserved from settlement for economic purposes. This vast area includes reservations of four different kinds: First, National Forest Reserves, aggregating some 63,000,000 acres, for the conservation of the water supply of the arid and semi-arid West; second, National Parks, of which there are seventeen, for the purpose of preserving untouched places of natural grandeur and interest; third, State Parks, for places of recreation and for conserving the water supply; and fourth, military wood and timber reservations, to provide Government fuel or other timber. Most military wood reserves were originally established in connection with old forts.
The forest reservations, as they are by far the largest, are also much the most important of these reserved areas.
Perhaps three-quarters of the population of the United States do not know that over nearly one-half of the national territory within the United States the rainfall is so slight or so unevenly distributed that agriculture cannot be carried on except by means of irrigation. This irrigation consists of taking water out of the streams and conducting it by means of ditches which have a very gentle slope over the land which it is proposed to irrigate. From the original ditch, smaller ditches are taken out, running nearly parallel with each other, and from these laterals other ditches, still smaller, and the seepage from all these moistens a considerable area on which crops may be grown. This, very roughly, is irrigation, a subject of incalculable interest to the dwellers in the dry West.
It is obvious that irrigation cannot be practiced without water, and that every ditch which takes water from a stream lessens the volume of that stream below where the ditch is taken out. It is conceivable that so many ditches might be taken out of the stream, and so much of the water lost by evaporation and seepage into the soil irrigated, that a stream which, uninterfered with, was bank full and even flowing throughout the summer, might, under such changed condition, become absolutely dry on the lower reaches of its course. And this, in fact, is what has happened with some streams in the West. Where this is the case, the farmers who live on the lower stretches of the stream, being without water to put on their land, can raise no crops. Nothing, therefore, is more important to the agriculturists of the West than to preserve full and as nearly equal as possible at all seasons the water supply in their streams.
This water is supplied by the annual rain or snow fall; but in the West chiefly by snow. It falls deep on the high mountains, and, protected there by the pine forests, accumulates all through the winter, and in spring slowly melts. The deep layer of half-rotted pine needles, branches, decayed wood and other vegetable matter which forms the forest floor, receives this melting snow and holds much of it for a time, while the surplus runs off over the surface of the ground, and by a thousand tiny rivulets at last reaches some main stream which carries it toward the sea. In the deep forest, however, the melting of this snow is very gradual, and the water is given forth slowly and gradually to the stream, and does not cause great floods. Moreover, the large portion of it which is held by the humus, or forest floor, drains off still more gradually and keeps the springs and sources of the brook full all through the summer.
Without protection from the warm spring sun, the snows of the winter might melt in a week and cause tremendous torrents, the whole of the melted snowfall rushing down the stream in a very short time. Without the humus, or forest floor, to act as a soaked sponge which gradually drains itself, the springs and sources of the brooks would go dry in early summer, and the streams further down toward the cultivated plains would be low and without sufficient water to irrigate all the farms along its course.
It was for the purpose of protecting the farmers of the West by insuring the careful protection of the water supply of all streams that Congress wisely passed the law providing for the establishing of the forest reserves. It is for the benefit of these farmers and of those others who shall establish themselves along these streams that the Presidents of the United States for the last twelve or fourteen years have been establishing forest reserves and have had expert foresters studying different sections of the western country to learn where the water was most needed and where it could best be had.
It is gratifying to think that, while at first the establishment of these forest reserves was very unpopular in certain sections of the West, where their object was not in the least understood, they have—now that the people have come to see what they mean—received universal approval. It sometimes takes the public a long time to understand a matter, but their common sense is sure at last to bring them to the right side of any question.
The list of reservations here given is brought down to December, 1903, and is furnished by the U.S. Forester—a member of the Club.
Government Forest Reserves in the United States and Alaska
ALASKA. Area in Acres
Afognak Forest and Fish Culture Reserve 403,640 The Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve 4,506,240
Total 4,909,880
Arizona
The Black Mesa Forest Reserve 1,658,880
The Prescott Forest Reserve 423,680
Grand Canyon Forest Reserve 1,851,520
The San Francisco Mountains Forest Reserve 1,975,310
The Santa Rita Forest Reserve 387,300
The Santa Catalina Forest Reserve 155,520
The Mount Graham Forest Reserve 118,600
The Chiricahua Forest Reserve 169,600
Total 6,740,410
CALIFORNIA. Acres.
The Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve 136,335
The Stanislaus Forest Reserve 691,200
Sierra Forest Reserve 4,096,000
The Santa Barbara Forest Reserve 1,838,323
San Bernardino Forest Reserve 737,280
Timber Land Reserve San Gabriel 555,520
The San Jacinto Forest Reserve 668,160
Trabuco Canyon Forest Reserve 109,920
————-
Total 8,832,738
Colorado
Battle Mesa Forest Reserve 853,000
Timber Land Reserve, Pike’s Peak 184,320
Timber Land Reserve, Plum Creek 179,200
The South Platte Forest Reserve 683,520
The White River Forest Reserve 1,129,920
The San Isabel Forest Reserve 77,980
————-
Total 3,107,940
Idaho
The Bitter Root Forest Reserve (see note) 3,456,000
The Priest River Forest Reserve (see note) 541,160
The Pocatello Forest Reserve 49,920
————-
Total 4,047,080
Montana
The Yellowstone Forest Reserve (see note) 1,311,600
The Bitter Root Forest Reserve (see note) 691,200
The Gallatin Forest Reserve 40,320
The Lewis and Clark Forest Reserve 4,670,720
The Madison Forest Reserve 736,000
The Little Belt Mountains Forest Reserve 501,000
The Highwood Mountains Reserve 45,080
————-
Total 7,995,920
NEBRASKA. Acres.
The Niobrara Forest Reserve 123,779
The Dismal River Forest Reserve 85,123
————-
Total 208,902
New Mexico
The Gila River Forest Reserve 2,327,040
The Pecos River Forest Reserve 430,880
The Lincoln Forest Reserve 500,000
————-
Total 3,257,920
Oklahoma Territory
Wichita Forest Reserve 57,120
Oregon
Timber Land Reserve, Bull Run 142,080
Cascade Range Forest Reserve 4,424,440
Ashland Forest Reserve 18,560
————-
Total 4,585,080
South Dakota
The Black Hills Forest Reserve (see note) 1,165,240
Utah
The Fish Lake Forest Reserve 67,840
The Uintah Forest Reserve 875,520
The Payson Forest Reserve 111,600
The Logan Forest Reserve 182,080
The Manti Forest Reserve 584,640
The Aquarius Forest Reserve 639,000
————-
Total 2,460,680
Washington
The Priest River Forest Reserve (see note) 103,960
The Mount Rainier Forest Reserve 2,027,520
The Olympic Forest Reserve 1,466,880
The Washington Forest Reserve 3,426,400
————-
Total 7,024,760
WYOMING. Acres.
The Yellowstone Forest Reserve (see note) 7,017,600
The Black Hills Forest Reserve (see note) 46,440
The Big Horn Forest Reserve 1,216,960
The Medicine Bow Forest Reserve 420,584
—————
Total 8,701,584
—————
Grand Total 63,095,254
Note
Total of Bitter Root, in Idaho and Montana 4,147,200
Total of Priest River, in Idaho and Washington 645,120
Total of Black Hills, in S. Dakota and Wyoming 1,211,680
Total of Yellowstone, in Wyoming and Montana 8,329,200
United States Military Wood and Timber Reservations
Kansas— Acres.
Fort Leavenworth 939
Montana—
Fort Missoula 1,677
Nebraska—
Fort Robinson 10,240
New Mexico—
Fort Wingate 19,200
New York—
Wooded Area of West Point Mil. Res., about 1,800
Oklahoma—
Fort Sill 26,880
South Dakota—
Fort Meade 5,280
Wyoming—
Fort D.A. Russell 2,541
———
Total 68,557
National Parks in the United States
Montana and Wyoming— Acres.
Yellowstone National Park 2,142,720
Arkansas—
Hot Springs Reserve and National Park 912
District of Columbia—
The National Zoological Park
Rock Creek Park 1,606
Georgia and Tennessee—
Chickamauga & Chattanooga Nat. Mil. Parks 6,195
Maryland—
Antietam Battlefield and Nat. Mil. Park 43
California—
Sequoia National Park 160,000
General Grant National Park 2,560
Yosemite National Park 967,680
Arizona—
The Casa Grande Ruin (Exec. Order)
Tennessee—
Shiloh National Military Park 3,000
Pennsylvania—
Gettysburg National Military Park 877
Mississippi—
Vicksburg National Military Park 1,233
Washington—
The Mount Rainier National Park 207,360
Oregon—
Crater Lake 159,360
Indian Territory—
Sulphur Reservation and National Park 629
South Dakota—
Wind Cave ……..
—————
Total 3,654,825
Forest Reserves of North America
State Parks, State Forest Reserves and Preserves, State Forest Stations, and State Forest Tracts in the United States
CALIFORNIA. Acres.
Yosemite Valley State Park 36,000
The Big Basin Redwood Park, about 2,300
Santa Monica Forest Station
Chico Forest Station 29
Mt. Hamilton Tract 2,500
Kansas
Ogallah Forestry Station
Dodge Forestry Station
Massachusetts
Blue Hills Reservation 4,858
Beaver Brook Reservation 53
Middlesex Fells Reservation 3,028
Stony Brook Reservation 464
Hemlock Gorge Reservation 23
Hart’s Hill Reservation 23
Wachusett Mountain Reservation 1,380
Greylock Reservation 3,724
Goodwill Park
Rocky Narrows 21
Mount Anne Park
Monument Mountain Reservation
Michigan
Mackinac Island State Park 103
Michigan Forest Reserve 57,000
Minnesota
Minnehaha Falls State Park,
or Minnesota State Park 51
Itasca State Park 20,000
St. Croix State Park,
or the Interstate Park at
the Dalles of the St. Croix
NEW YORK. Acres.
The State Reservation at Niagara, or Niagara
Falls Park. (Area of Queen Victoria Niagara
Falls Park in Canada—730 Acres) 107
Adirondack Forest Preserve 1,163,414
Catskill Forest Preserve 82,330
The St. Lawrence Reservation,
or International Park 181
Pennsylvania
Twenty Reserves scattered 211,776
The Hopkins Reserve 62,000
Pike County Reservation 23,000
McElhattan Reservation 8,000
Washington
Sanitarium Lake Reservation 193
Wisconsin
The Interstate Park of the Dalles of the St. Croix
Wyoming
The Big Horn Springs Reservation
Total 1,685,023
Canadian National Parks and Timber Reserves
The Dominion of Canada has established a large number of public parks and forests reserves, of which a list has been very kindly furnished by the Dominion Secretary of the Interior, as follows:
BRITISH COLUMBIA. Acres.
Long Lake Timber Reserve 76,800
Yoho Park (a part of Rocky Mt. Park of Can) …….
Glacier Forest Park 18,720
NORTHWEST TERRITORY. Acres.
Rocky Mountain Park of Canada 2,880,000
Foot Hills Timber Reserve 2,350,000
Waterton Lakes Forest Park 34,000
Cooking Lakes Timber Reserve 109,000
Moose Mountain Timber Reserve 103,000
Beaver Hills Timber Reserve 170,000
Manitoba
Turtle Mountain Timber Reserve 75,000
Spruce Woods Timber Reserve 190,000
Riding Mountain Timber Reserve 1,215,000
Duck Mountain Timber Reserve 840,000
Lake Manitoba West Timber Reserve 159,460
Ontario
Algonquin Park 1,109,383
Eastern Reserve 80,000
Sibley Reserve 45,000
Temagami Reserve 3,774,000
Rondeau Park ……..
Missisaga Reserve 1,920,000
Quebec
Laurentides National Park 1,619,840 —————- Total 16,769,203
Besides these, there are two or three other reservations in Quebec and New Brunswick and Manitoba that have not as yet been finally reserved, but which are in contemplation. Many of the timber reserves are still to be cut over under license. On the other hand, many of them find their chief function as game preserves, as do also to still greater extent the national parks. A large number of these parks and timber reserves are clothed with beautiful and valuable forests, as yet untouched by the ax.