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(Left) Nearly 506,000 sheep graze annually on National Forest Land. These sheep crop grass in Maroon Creek Valley, White River National Forest, largest of Colorado's National Forests. Headquarters are at Glenwood Springs. (Right) Resembling an Indian sand painting, this aerial view shows the Fools Creek Watershed in the Frazer Ex- perimental Forest after experimental timber harvesting. Timber was clean-cut from 278 acres, increasing the streamRow of Fools Creek by 200 acre-feet a year. recreation resources has been completed. State and Private Cooperation The Regional Forester and the State Forester cooperate in a number of programs designed to promote better management and protection of State and private forest land. These programs include: Forest and range fire prevention, forest fire control, forest pest control, tree planting, forest management, flood prevention, watershed protection, and rural area development. The State Board of Agriculture administers these programs, while the Forest Service provides financial, planning, and technical assistance. In areas with large amounts of national forest land, Forest Service personnel work directly in some of these programs. Cooperative con- servation programs are also carried out through local Soil Conservation Districts and Agri- cultural Stabilization and Conservation Com- mittees. Tangible evidence of Forest Service coopera- tive activities is seen in the State Forest Service Nursery at Fort Collins, in the State forest fire control organization which protects more than 7 million acres, in a pilot flood prevention project and two small watershed projects, and in forestry and forest industry aspects of rural development projects in six. counties. Coop- erative work has also helped in the planting of sheiterbelts throughout Colorado's Great Plains area. The cooperative program most familiar to the general public is the forest fire prevention program, known to most people simply as Smokey Bear. He speaks to millions of people daily from posters, newspaper ads, and on radio and television. Forest and Range Research The Forest and Range Experiment Station at Fort Collins conducts research at the Station headquarters and several experimental forests and ranges in the State. Research directed from Fort Collins is solving problems common not only in Colorado, but in the entire region. Of particular importance to Colorado is the research work in watershed management. By experimentally cutting timber in different pat- terns and blocks, research scientists have learned how to increase the snow pack and to reduce loss of water through evaporation. This same research also discovers new ways to prolong the snowmelt into the critical summer months. Research has shown ways to improve range management. Cattle can be distributed more evenly over the range by careful location of fences and water developments. More vigorous growth of grass can be achieved through rest rotation grazing and new methods of eradicating undesirable range plants. Research also con- tributes to more effective rodent control and more successful revegetation methods. Other research programs carryon the never- ending fight against forest insects and diseases, seek improved methods in firefighting, study wildlife habitat, forest regeneration, and timber management. I 57