| The Shoshone National Forest slopes eastward from the Absaroka Range and Yellowstone National Park toward the Big Horn Basin. Five good roads radiating from Cody cross or extend up into the forest at fairly regular intervals, following the main streams courses. The forest is so vast, however - it covers an area of more than a million and a half acres - that these roads give automobile access to only a relatively small portion of the forest. The intervening stretches are broken and rugged, although of no great altitude. Timber development on this forest has been slow on account of the character of the country and its comparative inaccessibility to markets. The Shoshone National Forest is also important because of the protection it gives to watersheds. Within its boundaries are the headwaters of the Shoshone River, the Greybull, and Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. As a background for the many interesting geological formations in this region the stands on this forest add much to the beauty of this landscape. But far more important is the deterring effect of their spreading roots on the eroding section of wind and flowing water assaulting the steep slopes. (WPA) |
