Men Who Matched the Mountains: The Forest Service in the Southwest

The figures aren't in yet, but it would be a good bet that the total estimate of visitors to the National Forests in the Southwest during the next 10 years will be up above twenty million. The figure couldn't be far off because the total of the 1971 season was 11,677,900 visitor days.

This is quite a contrast to the years when visitors were counted in thousands instead of millions.

Recreation is the fastest growing business of the Forest Service. It is also a much more recent activity. In the early years of the Forest Service, fire protection, grazing and timber sales were the principal work loads.

M. M. Cheney, for many years in the Legal and Lands Divisions of the Region 3 office, remembers when the first national appropriation for recreation was made. It was $15,000. Today many times that much might be spent on a single campground. The cost of maintenance and clean-up alone for the Southwestern Region recreation areas ruins into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

John D. Jones was Chief of Lands in the 1920's, and he has recalled that he helped lay out most of the early recreation areas in the Southwest.

"Mr. Burrel and I laid out the areas on top of the Catalinas and out in the Santa Ritas, and some of them down on Oak Creek, and all of these up here on the Sandias and the Pecos," Jones recounted. "I made the first recreation plan for the Region, an outline for working out the basis of laying out lots. I didn't agree with laying out lots like city lots, in squares. My idea was to stake out the location that you wanted to put the house in and then—the expression I used was, 'wrap the lot around it,' so they'd have a reasonable amount of privacy from the adjoining area. And that was the system we used. We didn't follow the regular rectangular lots. I didn't think they were practical. And we encouraged people to chop as few trees as possible. The habit of most people was to trim as high as your eye, then when you sat down there was no privacy. You could just see through the whole area. So we always tried to encourage people to leave the shrubbery and just clear what was needed around the place itself.

"There was very little known about recreation layouts in those days. I used to correspond with Dr. Francis of Syracuse University, who wrote a few items on it real early. Outside of that, he was about the only person working on it besides myself. I made a trip to Montana; I made a trip to Los Angeles and covered that famous area in the mountains north of Los Angeles, which everybody was bragging on, and when I saw them, they weren't as good as some of ours here. I didn't see that they had done anything new whatever, and the same thing was true in Utah. Then I made a trip with Mr. Knight in 1924, up in Colorado, over the Squirrel Creek area, that everybody was bragging about. It was real nice but no different from what we had here."

Jones was transferred from the Lands Division to the newly designated Information and Education Section, and he was succeeded by Mr. Cheney, who had been his assistant. Cheney had no assistant, so he asked Landis (Pink) Arnold to come into the Regional Office to take charge of recreation.

"At that time, the recreation problem was entirely different from what it is today," Cheney said. "Albuquerque at that time was under 40,000. Today it is 300,000."

That was about the time the CCC work was getting started, and Zane Smith recalls that for the first time "we had a definite program of constructing recreation facilities for camping and picnicking in the National Forests."

"Pink, who had shown a great deal of interest in this sort of thing, had scrounged around and managed to build out in the Sandias a few old tables out of scrap lumber and give some attention to the recreationists from Albuquerque," Smith related. "This caused him to be selected to head up this work."

With the increase in recreation site construction under the CCC Arnold needed an assistant, and he chose Zane Smith who remained in the Regional Office until 1937 when he was given his first Ranger district on the Prescott National Forest in Arizona.

The National Forests have always attracted campers. This family enjoyed the Santa Catalina Mountains (Coronado National Forest) in 1900.

Ed Miller came into the Regional Office as Chief of Recreation and Lands. Miller had been supervisor of the Coconino Forest when the CCC program started and he had used the Corps to build recreation facilities.

"Recreation was just coming into its own on the Coconino, " Miller said. "Oak Creek was a favorite spot, also Mormon Lake and Lake Mary. Recreation work included fireplaces, tables, water lines. One water line in Oak Creek was extended from the Upper Spring in Oak Creek Canyon down to Pine Flats Campground. Other springs farther down were also developed. Incidentally, it is interesting to look back and realize the change in thinking. The most desirable places, like Pine Flats and Oak Creek Canyon were laid out by Aldo Leopold and his helpers as summer home sites back in 1917-18 or thereabouts. Fortunately, most of those summer home sites were never leased. But now people come from California and other distant states for a few days camping in that beautiful canyon."

Trail rides into the National Forests were becoming popular in those days, too, and the American Forestry Association selected the Gila for one of its sponsored trail rides in 1935, and for two rides in 1936. And interestingly enough, that 1935 ride attracted only three men—but 22 women. They followed the trails that Henry Woodrow had built in the Wilderness, and one of the highlights of the trip was a ride up that first trail that Woodrow blazed in 1909 to the top of Mogollon Baldy Peak for a view from the fire lookout tower.*

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*The story of the 1935 Trail Ride is told in the August, 1936, issue of New Mexico Magazine, in an article, "Gila Trails" by W. W. James.

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Writing in the November, 1943, issue of New Mexico Magazine, Landis Arnold could brag that the Forest Service now had 120 campgrounds in New Mexico's seven National Forests and that 500,000 persons visited the seven Forests in a normal year.

Today the recreation people talk in terms of millions of visitors, not hundreds of thousands.

While there had been some recreational development during the CCC camp days, little was done after World War II until 1957 when a start was made with the advent of "Operation Outdoors."

This program really only got under way in 1958 and 1959. By the 1962 fiscal year funds for recreation construction were up to $591,000 in the Region, while operation and maintenance funds were only $353,000. In contrast, 1969 fiscal year construction dollars were $382,000, while operation and maintenance funds had increased to $1,342,000. The high year for construction was in 1964 when $940,000 became available for this purpose.

A family enjoys camping at Santa Barbara Campground, Carson National Forest.

Since the end of World War II, the State Game and Fish Departments of Arizona and New Mexico have greatly expanded their lake development program with the aid of Federal funds. New lakes constructed in this program along with other impoundments built in the past by either state or Federal agencies are becoming increasingly popular with people of all ages. The construction of these lakes on National Forests made a large impact on the recreation construction program in the Region.

A report of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission has noted that water is a focal point for outdoor recreation, and in the report, one of the findings of the study was: "Most people seeking outdoor recreation want water—to sit by, to swim and fish in, to ski across, to dive under, and to run their boats over." The construction of lakes in New Mexico and Arizona has greatly enhanced the recreation opportunities in the Southwestern Region.

The advent of the fee system, provided for by law in 1965, brought great changes in recreation administration in the Region. Prior to this time, recreation management activities were more or less directed towards cleaning the campgrounds and maintaining the facilities. The fee system made it essential that the user be contacted and a fee collected. This brought the recreation managers into closer contact with the needs and necessities of the people. It also brought about the tighter control of recreation use in the developed recreation sites. The Region was quite successful in the implementation of the fee system, being number two in the Nation in collections in 1967. In 1968, while only generating 6 percent of the reported use nation-wide, 11 percent of the total L&WCF fee collections were made in this Region.

In the last few years it became increasingly evident that there would be need for more law enforcement activities in the recreation field. This became particularly true in those recreation sites that were adjacent to major population centers such as Tucson, Phoenix, and Albuquerque. Training sessions were held in this activity, and law enforcement officers were employed in both New Mexico and Arizona on a zone basis. In one case in Arizona, a particular problem area near Tucson, a law enforcement officer was employed on the Coronado National Forest for use in that particular area.

In a recent report on recreation, the Division of Recreation and Lands noted that the rate of increase in recreation use "depends on many factors, including economics and weather. We expect the upward trend to continue."

Water and snow-oriented recreation use is increasing more rapidly than more conventional uses, such as camping and picnicking.

"Regardless of his particular pursuit, the user expects and demands more and better services and facilities than he did a decade ago," the report stated. "Bathhouses, flush toilets, electrical power, and trailer sewage service stations are examples of new facilities that are now installed which were unheard of a few years ago. We expect that such improvements may become the rule rather than the exception in many of the more heavily used sites.

"Depending upon the recreation experience level planned for a developed site, facilities and improvements may vary greatly. Most 'family units' of a developed campground normally contain these improvements: a parking spur, table, fireplace grill or other cooking facility, a level spot for pitching a tent, a garbage receptacle, and a pro rata share of water and toilet systems. The Southwestern Region has a total of 6,840 such family units in 382 developed camp and picnic grounds. This does not include improvements at observation sites, boating and swimming sites, recreation residences, winter sports sites, and visitor centers. All sites developed for public recreation use total 650, with a total capacity of people at one time of 75,967. These developed sites cover 6,896 acres.

"While it is generally true that the public may change preference for outdoor recreation experiences, these changes are quite gradual. Much work along this line is done by various state and local governments and universities as well as the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the National Park Service, and the Forest Service, in seeking guidance for economic development or exploitation of a given area or attraction. Bureaus of Business Research also delve into this subject.

"Users of the National Forests in the Southwest are generally from the metropolitan areas which lie adjacent or close to the National Forests. Climatic relief is sought by many people from Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and California, who drive farther to visit the cooler climate of the higher elevation in National Forests. Obviously, the most heavily used areas are those which are most easily accessible. The use pressure will shift and expand as the relatively remote areas are opened up and developed. Management plans are being written as rapidly as possible and specific management practices to meet current or expected impacts are implemented as fast as budgetary limitations will allow.

"As you would expect, the time spent by each recreation visitor varies with the activity in which he is engaged. As little as one hour might be spent by a group or an individual on a picnic in the National Forest near his home, while up to 12 hours might be spent by this same group or individual when it is necessary to travel long distances to the National Forest. All else being equal, however, we generally assume that the average length of stay for such activity is three to four hours. Camping length of stay is believed to be an average of two to three days for most sites. Wilderness recreationists usually stay six to seven days. Skiers spend about three hours per day actually skiing, with another estimated two hours spent in using associated improvements. General enjoyment of scenery, recreational driving, fishing, hunting, nature study, etc., are all too abstract to attempt to define a length of visit.

"The Southwestern Region is not presently able to meet the demand for outdoor recreation at developed sites. Our goal is to provide enough improvements to accommodate average weekday use. We don't believe it is practical to develop sites for peak weekend and holiday demand. Inventories of sites suitable for recreation development show that there is sufficient acreage of National Forest land available to meet expected needs through at least the year 2000. We have not developed plans beyond that date yet. Within the next two years we should complete an update of our long range plans.

"The control of use of recreation improvements and undeveloped portions of the National Forests is a tremendous job. Overuse of facilities, vandalism, lawlessness, and lack of respect for public property are examples of the problems. Much time is consumed in this way, which could be much more profitably spent in actual management of the resources.

"The basic use to be made of a developed site by the public can usually be controlled by the physical layout of the site and the design of improvements installed. The kind and amount of parking, the presence or absence of fire grates, whether or not tables are furnished, all influence and in a measure regulate demand and use on a given site. The use of restrictions on fire is another way to regulate use in general undeveloped areas as well as in the sites developed for public use."

An interesting new trend in recreation in the National Forests is the growth of snowmobiling. In the past couple of years, the village of Chama in northern New Mexico has been designated as "The Snowmobile Capital of the Southwest." Each weekend, hundreds of snowmobile enthusiasts flock into Chama to follow the high country trails. More than 300 miles of trails have been established by the Forest Service, Soil Conservation Service and the snowmobilers themselves. One of the trips is a safari across the Carson National Forest from Chama to Tres Piedras. The Cloudcroft Ranger District in the Lincoln Forest has marked two snowmobile trails; Santa Fe Forest has marked three trails in the Coyote District. The Cibola Forest has marked several trails in the Sandia District and has some snowed-in roads in the Manzano Mountains and in the Gallinas Mountains that would be suitable for snowmobiling.

The Multiple Use Management Guide issued by the Regional Office for its Supervisors and Rangers notes that "winter sports are growing in popularity. Northern New Mexico National Forests contain most of the more desirable winter sports sites in the State. This area is the closest skiing available to western Texas. Northern Arizona provides winter sport activities within a three-hour drive from Phoenix on a high speed Interstate Highway. The nine winter sports sites in the Region have a capacity of 13,150 people at one time and their use constitutes 2.5 percent of the Region's total recreation use."

Discussing the recreation resource potential of the Forests of the Southwest, the Management Guide notes that "the Region is unique in that it has desert environment for enjoyment in winter, and cool mountains for summer use. Practically all of the 20.5 million acres of National Forest System lands in the Southwest have something of interest for the recreationist. Areas most valuable for recreation are generally those with some special attraction, such as a river, stream, or lake. Unusual vegetation, altitude, climate or scenery also draw visitors."

Noting the fact that Interstate Highways bring "an already mobile population closer to the National Forests," the Management Guide points out that new or improved Forest highways provide easy access to many Forest areas, and that as "use increases in the undeveloped areas, it will be necessary to provide minimum sanitary facilities and cleanup to protect public health and safety, prevent water pollution and enhance natural beauty."

Just to travel through the Forest is a form of recreation—whether it's by car, horseback or on foot. To come suddenly upon a flock of turkeys or to spy a deer by the side of the road becomes a recreation bonus. The landscape is a source of interest and the wildlife a special delight to the picnicker or weekend explorer.

The Rangers themselves never become so blasé about their jobs that they aren't sensitive to the beauty of the Forests or enjoy the same little delights that please the casual Forest visitor.

A good example of this is indicated in the story that Ed Miller related about a trip that he and Lefty Lewis, one-time State Game Warden of Arizona, made one fall into the South Pocket country of the Rogers Lake District of the Coconino nearly 40 years ago.

"The Ranger had wanted us to get Lefty down into that South Pocket country," Miller related. "He felt that the deer were too numerous down there, so Lefty Lewis and I went in—in a pickup as far as we could drive. As we approached the South Pocket Tank, which was the watering place for the D-K outfit, we thought we saw a movement inside the high wire fence that the D-K outfit had around the water tank. Lefty said, 'Ed, what's that? What are those things?' I said, 'They're cubs. Little bear cubs.' 'Well,' Lefty said, 'we'd better be blamed careful or we'll have the old mother after us.' 'Well, we're not gonna cause any excitement.'

"We just took very, very slow paces down a little bit of wash, down to the gate. Those little cubs were standing straight up, watching us. Apparently they had never seen a main before. We walked slowly toward them. One crawled under the woven wire fence and stood by a yellow pine. The other one stood within about 10 feet before he moved from me. And then he started up a pine tree. I walked up so I could stroke his back. One cub was cinnamon, the other pure black. Lefty said, 'Ed, if I go back to Phoenix and tell people about this, they'll think I'm a damn liar.'

"That's the closest that either one of us ever got to a wild animal that wasn't sick. Where the mother was, we don't know. Her tracks were there at the water. It was a regular watering place. But since we didn't disturb the youngsters and make 'em set up a howl, the mother may have been unaware of what was happening. We both felt very sad that we had been foolish enough to have left the camera in the car. The sun was just exactly right for a picture of those cubs. I've seen bear in the woods, but I've never seen two babies along in September that were just as pretty as any cub you'll see in a zoo. Their fur fairly shone."

Discussing trends in Forest Service policies, Elliott Barker noted that the increase in population and demand for general outdoor recreation has changed the direction of the Service to a great extent.

"We used to think of the Forest Service as grazing and timber mainly, with recreation completely in the background," Barker said. "Now it's right out in the foregound. I think the increase in population is going to get worse. It's just a little hard for me to envision what inevitably lies ahead for the Forest Service. For instance, there are some who foresee the day in the not-too-far-distant future when you will have to regulate the number of visits that an individual can make to the National Forests or to a Wilderness in any one season. I can't quite picture that. Still, if we figure the increase, for instance, going back to about 1910 or '11, when I was at the Panchuela Ranger Station, we estimated that there were fewer than 300 people went into the back country—what is now the Pecos Wilderness—each year on recreation, that is, other than stockmen who went in on business. Less than 300. Well, that has increased steadily through the years, and when I went on as State Game Warden, I think we estimated—that was in 1931—we estimated it up to about 800. A few years ago it was between 15,000 and 20,000. How can anyone tell where we are going to come out? Our population is running away with itself."

A growing activity of the Forest Service in connection with recreation is the Visitor Information Service, which takes a variety of forms in the different National Forests and is designed to help the visitor interpret the Forest and understand its management. Visitor centers have been built in some Forests; nature talks are given at campgrounds; hikes are sponsored; nature trails established; attractive information displays are set up in Supervisor and Ranger headquarters.

On the Pecos Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest, there are nature talks and slide showings at three campgrounds every evening during the summer. J. D. Woerheide, of the lands and recreation staff of the Pecos District reported that a collection of 3,000 color slides had been built up for use of the VIS staff.

Adjacent to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, 43 miles from Silver City, New Mexico, the Forest Service and the National Park Service cooperated to establish and operate the Gila Visitor Center that features the archeology and natural history of the area and management of the Gila National Forest.

Senator Clinton P. Anderson was an honored guest at the dedication of the Gila Visitor Center. Anderson, former Secretary of Agriculture, was a personal friend of Aldo Leopold and the father of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

One of the most popular visitor centers is undoubtedly that near Tucson, the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center, at the foot of the Santa Catalina Mountains, and its Catalina Desert Trail for the Handicapped.

In the planning stage is a visitor center to be built near Flagstaff that will house the Forest Service Museum, now housed at the Continental Divide Training Center.

Population projections indicate that by 1980, there will be 1,630,000 people in New Mexico and 2,050,000 in Arizona. Forest Service officials believe this increased population, coupled with the increased awareness of the public of the activities on National Forest lands, makes it imperative that the Forest Service continue on its established direction of comprehensive land management planning and activities.