Gass__‘> \\ 4-43 1 a a) LR 2 OFFICIAL DONATION. 4 i a y = Pole re « ‘ 1a \ 1 . ' A i J | Lae . a. f 7 ee a! h,? Ae ay ' r, ‘ i i ; . + cu 7 oh a Pa] ’ Dy es * - was ae a a ae * Oi RA Srl Siting) i _ oi eae * Pas Ds we w ¥ ‘ ry aa] 4 . y apse >, “yy ia, ** A 4 % in Bee Ue Py) ae 4" 5 ” , on ‘ / , ay \ er “ft . Mes 4 os rs" i Seis ek Zep of ; : A244 # DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR—U, §. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 5 . CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR BH THE LEWIS AND CLARKE FOREST RESERVE, MONTANA } j y F ry a ATM BY ; ‘ 75 ‘ os ; a : a B. f x RE BUS 5 ie . i, ” ' oi | EXTRACT PROM THE TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT oF THE SURVEY, 1899-1900 : Ge ela! ? y. at _ PART -Y, FOREST RESERVES—HENRY GANNETT, CHIEF OF > ok ; a2 Hsp pte OF GEOGRAPHY AND FORESTRY RKE FOREST RESERVE, MONTANA -” BY _H. B. AYRES’ Coyaae CONTENTS. IBOUNK AMCs EER Sawa ee sae tere ea ao Nene see ee ee tence Saad ING} ero ANS Ra = Sei = Se sabe ete Series pater es Settee cae tot PRO Gare meets ee Ose ree ee ep a ns Meee Ae Bes Se RE PSO eS tS As a aa eg SL Seek Nh a Sm ee ale eh ne Tel pee ab) S) ce as etd 2S ae ee re eh a ee ee Per ata esee ae Voie, eh es eh ite LS Ne a1 eae] See ae ee ae Neri Oobhinnenl ehaeearsauaten eins epee Deas oo =e ss See eee, ee eee ee ANSWER Fs ee Seah aN eo oe wees eee eee eS = 3 Se ee oe ee Ee SPC CLe gta ae See cee renee stains oi stale ae oS Ue ae IDISHMD MON see eet ae are ee eee ns eee ise oes oooh eects NSH Fev MGUY ee a Ee eS ye eR a Ae ee SE SSTIMIA TES Ee teeta ee eee isha aires ieee See SS YOUN COTO NR U Nie steers amie eee aye eer ee Se ese oe cise te eee s Phe haste Winglordoanln | Se ae aes age Sano a5 § taste Bes Serene ieee ens ae (Cyan YRS Ee eng Oe Si ee eS ea es re IHR CR Sey ea cee remotes eee ec eae ae ee peak eee etek eece doce ICON ee eee eee aoe ee on rian ee emi eee minis ait OR ee Sec e's (CRUSCINE eee Serer etre sme beer ee ase aera e id Ura S) OSV Gy Ws ee eee ee eee ID Pion te (ts SS aa peas Ss SoS Sea Se carer ae ea ee Serre ee sea IDES sh fools UR es ees see Sp ae a See eee ee Se eee RE PTOUUMCH ON S-525 eeere ee Sensi ae ch ne kee saeco eee abe sees Haralb lity tonite eee mere seas sac cme eee ees ya een eset en: Hifection hreion) composition of forest). = -.. 5 -a2-s<-.is-se--eee ae a= RAL OU ORO WL eee seein ae else hiur aan saci a hoo ce “ks Sees eas PN CCERST OED arene Ree Ne es ee alee pepo of aoe ea ae me Se WETRGW) - 2025302 .20845 43-0 = SaaS CSB aS ne Sea se ar See ees eee ae aes Supresilousdonmeanagemenw «2.9 -2s see een Some vice ee bos eee. = Reculaions sueeested toreutime a. s eos ee rene == sen esg esse = sate WUE, 23 a Ss SS Sets ete Cr eo a aN te te Ce ee @limatione sas acacia soe aa Se a see eiass aeewee ss semcics seseecesceceene (QUQETHO INCE Aaa Sm ee ee Oe SE I ea ea TNS DIL GENT «oon cine ne Od a SSE Ae eae os See ISHOIMGING Sac 6snGne SEAR eee ae Se ee ee Re ea ee ea es Rawal Dini clown Wit Way 0s pec te ee ae CE EES BOSSE aoe eee sees ae Missouri River drainage or eastern slope of Continental Divide.--.....---.--- Tinie 22k oe Sos Sob SEE Se eee eS ee eee ee Page. 85 or or or eH OS Or Ot or OH OT cr or He Oo WO Oo NS bo SIF sr 51 O Or or or ot or or or or or s) uo CO 30 CONTENTS. Misssouri River drainage or eastern slope of Continental Divide—Continued. page, Moun orOWtheecsea fence oto vie cece oe bacncen en eee 60 (Win derbroshy sees cee. host sn, c= See ocean 60 Neg eee oes SES oasis was ole See ee ee eee 60 Reproduchlone a sa2.00el-2acc b=.) ~ cecacant ak eee ene eee eee 61 BS CH OL DLMEO SION Walter TOW: oc -2.0-- 0+ - =e eee 62 Deadwood eee seer oie act ne a ance ce sh ope eee eee 62 Guttin pete se 2 San ot knead doses ee Oe eee ee 62 iranspontation’s 225-2 202+ 4262 =sa2\55 see eee eee eee 63 Demand esses: oso Se cate < Coe eee 64 Aonieultral land) < - jcc ase ot acinar ee eee 64 Ipripation:. ==. = 212% =-.012<'s nacieeneo eee ee ee 64 Occupancy a. <2. 2<222 265.22 -b0 cae eee eee 64 Wiater power . =.= --.-- 22. see eee es 65 MIMI BS 2) ooo ob oon eee ee eee 65 Walley of MiddleHork of Mlathead! River sesso se see eee ee eee 65 Topography \.- =. < --.-t.4es see ae eee eee 55 Rocks. co .255 jo: od 2 ices See ee 65 Soil sic asses oo 3-2 5c SoS Jee oe eee ee eee 65 Litter’ 2.22005 ees eee a eee ee ee ee 66 Tamas = «258 ole Ss sce ee ae ene 66 Trees.and timber. «<.2inessesoa: see eee Oe eee eee 66 Mshiniates:- . . sao. S2ecosse=2 eee ee eee ee ee 66 Young growth... 022. j-csoe stasis Seen ee Sap esaoe se eee eee 66 Underbrush *: - 42: 45scqses se eo ee ee oe ee 67 TRGHES oe. 2s oes ee adeno tes ee eel ols eet Se eee ee 67 Deadwood ...2- 42 s:1522o552 52 eee ee eee 67 @utiing! ... 2... pa sec ene eae ee eee ee a 67 Transportation...22sjsce see see see fas ee eee ee eee eee 67 Deniand,......<..=522ees esos sme cement ee ee een ean 67 Agricultural lands <3 [s2.seen sean see eee ee eset ee eee eee ee 68 Water power 2.22 ss: secon saa cossics cee Soe eae ae ee eee 68 QOceupaney ==. == 322i ase secs sees see Soe sen ieee ee eee eee 68 Mining: : = Ss 2. 22 aes eee esas eee ee ee cine ee eee 68 Valley ot South Hork of Mlathead Riven = sees sese= see ae eee 68 Topography: 2. HEAD OF NORTH FORK OF SUN RIVER, AGAINST WALL OF A. CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AYRES. ] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 37 the Swan-Clearwater Valley, more regular in outline and with broader bottom and lower altitude, having an area within the reserve of about 728 square miles. The valley of Swan River is continuous with that of the Clearwater, being separated only by a low morainic divide. ROCK. Limestone is of extensive occurrence, nearly all the summits, both of the peaks and ridges, being composed of it. Much of it is fossilifer- ous (Pls. IV, B, and V, A). Most of it is said to be of good quality for building stone. Interbedded quartzites are occasionally seen, and green schistose rocks are found in the canyons. One especially good exposure of schist is in the lower canyon of the North Fork of Teton Creek. Igneous rock, bearing traces of copper, occurs on Upper Smith Creek, southwest of Augusta, and extends southwestward. A dark igneous rock is also found extending northward from the warm springs on Sun River. - Black shale is abundant in the valley of the North Fork of Sun River. A bright-red arenaceous shale extends from near the warm springs southward to the headwaters of Ford Creek. Cretaceous rocks form the eastern foothills. Tertiary coal-bearing rocks are found in the lower portion of the valley of the South Fork of the Flathead. Few mining prospects are found within the reserve. Those seen were on Smith Creek and in the lower portion of the valley of the South Fork of Flathead River. Quartz is nowhere abundant. Outside of the reserve, but not far from the boundary, copper claims are located on the North Fork of Blackfoot River, and on Smith Creek, below White’s mill. Some other claims were staked during 1898 on Summit Creek, not far above Java. Lignite coal is found on the South Fork of Flathead River, some 30 miles from its mouth. East of the Continental Divide the strata dip southwestward, and west of the divide the general dip is northeastward. SOIL. In general the soil is shallow. ‘The region has been glaciated in com- paratively recent time and but a small amount of soil has accumulated. The rock of the region being principally limestone, one expects the soil derived from it to be productive where physical composition, moisture, and climate are favorable to plant growth. Travel through the region proved this to be true, for in all the well-moistened and sheltered localities having a fair depth of loam a luxuriant growth of vegetation was found. Thrifty vegetation is by no means a simple 38 FOREST RESERVES. index of the character of the soil on which it grows, but. considering the other factors influencing the growth of plants, it is an easy Means of discovering the value of the soil. * In the higher regions, or those above 6,000 feet, a large proportion of the surface is entirely destitute of soil, as it has been washed down the mountain sides as fast as formed. The middle slopes vary greatly as to soil, and while in some of the basins or on the more moderate slopes there is an accumulation of loam, many strips on the mountain sides are nearly bare. Even where slopes are moderate there are Imany very steep and even precipitous places where nothing but rock is exposed. The valleys contain a great deal of gravel, morainal material brought down from the mountains by glaciers and worked over by water in more recent times. Clay was seen in many of the river bluffs and in terraces along the sides of the valleys. The distri- bution of clays and gravels is so irregular that it would be impracti- cable to make a satisfactory map of them. HUMUS. Humus is generally light, varying according to the fertility of the soil and favorable climatie conditions. The eastern slope has been burned so much that there is little humus left, except in the lower foothills (Pl. VI, A). The summits of the mountain ridges have, of course, very little humus, as not much vegetation grows there. The river bottoms here, in contrast with bottom lands in low countries or regions of moderate slope, have so much gravel and sand that they do not produce a rank growth of vegetation; consequently there is but little humus on them. In general, the earth is but slightly covered with humus, even the unburned woods seldom having a depth of more than 2 or 3 inches. There are exceptions, of course, in damp places along small streams, in springy places, and in the isolated sloughs. In the banks of small streams that have changed their courses several feet of black earth sometimes appear. This, however, is an alluvial deposit washed down from the hills by the streams, and is not to be considered as humus. LITTER. While varying somewhat with the fertility of the soil, the amount of litter depends greatly upon the occurrence and the intensity of fire. It is scant on all the higher land, where the soil is thin, climate severe, and vegetation restricted, but it is found on burned areas, on mountain sides, and in valleys (Pl. V, B). On the burned areas shown on the accompanying map (PI. IJ) there is very little material except the trunks of trees killed by fire, but these in many cases amount to a large number. U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT PARTY PL. VI A. BURNT MOUNTAIN SIDE NOT RESTOCKED. New vegetation of yrass, lupine, rose, service berry, paint weed, etc B. HANNON'S RANCH AND VALLEY OF STOREHOUSE CREEK. AATIVA YSAIY NVYMS YaddN 'HONYY S,GNVTIOH YV3N ‘'SANId MOTISA ‘I "HONVY S.ONVYIIOH WOUYS 'SONVY NOISSIN ‘F Pa thee pe WA "Id ALYWd 1LHOd3Y IVANNY ISHId-ALNIML A3AYNS 1¥91901039 *s "nN AYRES.] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 39 The forested region not visited by recent fires has a very small amount of deadwood, usually very much less than is found on the burns, but here is much more of the fine litter, such as leaves, twigs, and moss. Except for deadwood, the amount of litter is light east of the Conti- nental Divide, and heavy in the unburned portion of the valley of the Middle Fork of Flathead River, where the old forest is being slowly replaced by new. It is moderately abundant in the valley of the South Fork of Flathead River, which is patched with burns. The lower half of the Swan River Valley is in about the same condition, but the upper half has been much burned and has a dense network of fallen trees over a large part of the surface. AGRICULTURAL AND GRAZING LANDS. Excepting that angle of the reserve reaching northeastward into the plains, with Birch Creek as its northern boundary, and having an area of about 90 square miles, there is no strictly agricultural land within the reserve. In each of the main valleys some vegetables and hay could be grown, but the product could not compete successfully with that produced under more favorable conditions. While agricultural land is scarce, there are several favorable loca- tions for small ranches (Pl. VI, 4). These areas, excepting along the eastern foothills, are isolated and difficult of access and subject to deep snows in winter, which would make it necessary for the rancher to put up much hay. Natural hay is found in some quantity in wil- low bottoms, or sloughs, and some prairies would yield a good crop of hay under cultivation. _On the North Fork of Sur River is a prairie having an area of about 10 square miles, on which there is but little natural hay, but the land could easily be irrigated, and timothy could be grown. South of Sun River the valleys of Beaver Creek and of the South Fork of the North Fork of Sun River have considerable areas of grass land. All through the foothills bordering the plains and in the nar- row valleys between the ridges south of Ear Butte are, perhaps, 100 square miles of land on which there is more or less grass, but it is rather difficult of access and undesirable for grazing on account of the deadwood killed by fires. This area, with the eastern foothills north- ward, has once been nearly all wooded, but frequent incursions of fire from the plains have reduced and even exterminated much of the forest, which has been succeeded by a mixture of grasses and weeds. In the valley of the Middle Fork of the Flathead only one area of grass land was seen, and that was a willow bottom along a stream tributary to the Big, or East Fork. This area seemed to be about a mile long and a quarter to half a mile wide. \ 40 FOREST RESERVES. Near the head of Willow Creek is a large willow bottom with bunch- grass prairie on the hills bordering it. Mz. Donahue has a ranch on this bottom stocked with about 100 head of cattle. Below the mouth of Willow Creek is an area of 800 to 1,000 acres of grass land, much of which is fire made, affording excellent summer grazing. Hay could easily be grown here by irrigation. A short distance above the mouth of White River is an area of about 300 acres of prairie. Here and there, in passing down the South Fork, small areas of grass were found on the most gravelly portions of the river bottom. In the Clearwater Valley, about the head of Clearwater Lake and about the other lakes of the chain between this lake and the summit, are meadows of sedge, or flat grass, with small areas of upland grass. The grass and hay land in the Clearwater drainage amounts to per- haps 500 acres. Over the divide, in the Swan River Valley, on Holland Creek, are some 200 acres of natural prairie land, with fair grazing also under the adjacent scattered timber. This land is occupied as a ranch Cela VelileeAl): About 8 or 10 miles below this ranch is a morainic region of gravel hills and ridges, with intermediate sloughs, on which there is much grass of inferior quality (Pl. LX, A). The abundance of hay may, however, offset the inferior quality of pine grass and induce some one to try ranching there. Above the mouth of Jim Creek, on the trail to Crow Creek Pass, is a prairie of some 500 acres, part of which is irrigable and well adapted to hay. ) At the head of Swan Lake are about 500 acres of hay land, but there is very little grazing land in that vicinity. Numerous small areas of grass land occur elsewhere in this valley, but none of them warrant an attempt at stock raising. On the mountain ridges, approaching timber line, are many grassy basins and parks, and many ridges are scantily covered with a fine blue bunch grass (Festuca ovina’). This mountain grass land is probably due to the prevalence of snow, which prevents growth of trees. The lingering snow leaves hardly more than two months of the year availa- ble for pasturage. Most of such areas are practically inaccessible for stock and are of no present use as grass land. In the entire reserve there are probably 200 square miles of grass land. U.S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT PART V PL.VIII 100 y 13°00 112730" 7 | SSSSe id Sli DN f Af e/)) 3°30" = ree 13°00" LEWIS AND CLARK FOREST RESERVE ee MONTANA: Showing distribution of Lyall larch Western larch,and Patton hemlock Prepared under the direction of Henry Gannett, Geographer in charge BY H.B. AYRES Scale < 5 $ 10 15 20 25 30 Miles —— Sketch contours 7 1899 LEGEND mee) LYALL LARCH WESTERN LARCH uen)] PATTON HEMLOCK aaa (Larrx Lyallii) (Larix occidentalis) 1 | Tsuga patoneana) AYRES.) LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA, 41 THE FOREST. SPECIES. The trees growing within the reserve are as follows: Trees growing within Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve, Montana. Botanical name, Common name. General distribution. | eT bem aT ee he — - | Pinus ponderosa .....- Yellow pine ...--.. Swan-Clearwater Valley and | South Fork of Flathead. Pinus monticola. ..-.-.- White pine -.....-.-. Lower Swan River, South Fork | and Middle Fork of Flathead. Pinus murrayana. -.-.. | Lodgepole pine....) Everywhere below 7,000 feet. Pinus albicaulis ....... INU PING eee ee West of Continental Divide above 6,000 feet. Pinus flexilis........- .| Limber pine --..... Bast of Continental Divide. Picea engelmanni ...-. Engelmann spruce. .| Everywhere. Picea aber -sasces ues | White spruce -....- Teton Creek. Larix occidentalis. . ..- | Western larch... West of Continental Divide. Lanse haath ees asece Mountain larch ....) Colonies on highest ranges. Pseudotsuga taxifolia..) Red fir..........-.- Everywhere below 7,000 feet. Abies lasiocarpa -....- Balsameosoescceae- Everywhere. Abies grandis ........- WSulivencdin Sec. caen Lower Swan and Flathead yal- leys. Thuja plicata ........- | Wasi SooGsgGesacce Do. Tsuga heterophylla....| Hemlock .........- Do. Tsuga pattoniana......)...-- (ys ae ee Do. Populus angustifolia... Cottonwood -.....- Along lower streams. Populus tremuloides...| Aspen .....-.....-. Patches below 7,000 feet. Populus balsamifera...| Balm of Gilead... - Eastern foothills. DISTRIBUTION. Yellow pine is found throughout the valley of the South Fork of Flathead River and in the Swan and Clearwater valleys below 3,500 feet (Pl. IX, 2). White pine occurs in the Lower Swan River Valley, in the lower portion of the valley of the South Fork of Flathead River, and probably in the lower portion of the Middle Fork Valley, at elevations below 4,000 feet. Lodgepole pine is gen- eral in distribution below 6,000 feet. Nut pine is found on all the high land west of the Continental Divide above 5,000 feet. Limber pine is confined to the eastern foothills below 7,000 feet (Pl. X, A). Engelmann spruce is generally distributed and is found at all alti- tudes, but most abundant on the mountain sides. White spruce, somewhat difficult to distinguish from Engelmann spruce because of intermediate forms, occurs on the South Fork of Teton Creek. Larch 42 FOREST RESERVES. is the principal timber tree in the Swan-Clearwater Valley. It is less abundant in the valley of the South Fork of Flathead River, and its farthest appearance to the eastward is in the valley of the Middle Fork of Flathead River. Mountain larch is found in colonies here and there on the higher mountains. An unusually fine forest (for this species) is near Camp Creek Pass, between Sun River and Willow Creek, on the very summit of the Continental Divide. A few trees are found also on the summit of the range just north of Pend Oreille Pass, between the West Fork of the South Fork of Flathead River and the Clearwater Valley. Red fir is found throughout the reserve below 6,000 feet. Balsam, like Engelmann spruce, is found at all alti- tudes, but is most abundant between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. Silver fir appears in the lower portion of the Swan River Valley, on the South Fork of Flathead, on the Middle Fork of Flathead, and a few trees are seen near the head of the North Fork of Sun River. Cedar has the same distribution, but is confined to the damp places along streams and in the bottoms of ravines. Hemlock has the same habitat and approximately the same distribution as cedar. Mountain hemlock is found only at the summit of the pass between Swan River and Clear- water River, in a clump of small trees about 8 feet high. Cottonwood is generally distributed along the streams in the medium and lower altitudes. Aspen is found almost everywhere below 6,000 feet, except in dense forests. Balm of Gilead occurs in the eastern foothills. SIZE AND QUALITY. Yellow pine, while thoroughly abundant in the Upper Swan and Clearwater valleys, is not as large and vigorous as in the lower and more fertile lands of the Flathead Valley, where it is sometimes 6 or 7 feet on the stump and 100 feet or more high. Within the reserve it is seldom more than 3 feet in diameter and 90 feet high. It is fre- quently fire scarred and otherwise defective. White pine is seldom sound, and in addition to the common dry rot, much of it is dying. The dead trees are almost worthless for timber. Lodgepole pine, one of the hardiest trees, while seldom more than 20 inches on the stump and 100 feet high, is usually straight, sound, and comparatively free from large knots. Nut pine, while hardly to be considered for log timber at present on account of its inaccessibility, is sometimes large enough for saw logs, and may possibly be in future local demand. Limber pine is remarkably crooked and knotty where exposed, as on the eastern foothills. On the mountain sides it is frequently found fairly straight and clear in sheltered places, reaching a diameter of about 28 inches and a height of 50 feet or more. Such good trees are exceptional. U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT PART V PL. Ix A. UPPER SWAN RIVER VALLEY. B. YELLOW PINE ON SHORE OF PLACID LAKE. U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TWENTY-FIAST ANNUAL REPORT PART V PL. x B. OPENING IN YELLOW-PINE FOREST ON JOCKO TRAIL, LAKE. 1 MILE NORTH OF PLACID . = eee Ce eS A i at ae. ae ae)? whe, eT AYRES. ] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 43 Engelmann spruce, besides haying an even distribution, is the most useful tree. With lodgepole pine and red fir it forms the dense forest of pole timber on the exposed but well-moistened slopes, and with balsam makes large log timber in the higher gulches. Some trees about 34 inches in diameter and 125 to 130 feet high were seen. Of white spruce, only a few small trees were surely identified. Western larch, the most abundant timber tree of the valleys, like the yellow pine, is smaller than in the Flathead and Stillwater valleys. There it is about 4 feet in diameter and 180 feet high. In this reserve it is seldom more than 30 inches in diameter, none being seen over 3 feet, and it is seldom over 125 feet high. It is more knotty, but it seems to be quite as sound as in the lower country (Pl. XI, A). Red fir becomes more defective to the eastward. It reaches out on the plains somewhat, but there, except in sheltered places, it is hardly able to raise an upright stem. In the foothills it is bushy. Ascending the mountains, it is found in some basins as large as 30 inches on the stump and 80 feet high, but so defective with dry rot that it makes very poor timber for the sawmill. West of the Conti- nental Divide it improves both in size and quality, but is still subject to dry rot, and many dead stubs are found in the forest without evi- dence of fire or other very plain cause of their death. The most hardy trees are on rocky mountain slopes, where the roots can reach constant water, but such trees are isolated, short, and knotty, and seldom suitable for log timber. Mountain larch, probably of no commercial importance, is found 15 inches in diameter and 70 feet high. Though not cut and carefully examined the trees seemed generally sound. Balsam is never a large tree, at least none were seen more than 15 inches in diameter and 70 feet in height. It is usually defective in the butt and full of small knots. Cedar is found 3 feet in diameter and 80 feet high, but this size is unusual. The tree was nowhere abundant, yet small areas of it occur, and it may be of some commercial value for poles, posts, or shingles. Aspen is not notably different here from the aspen of other regions. It is occasionally large enough for log timber, but is seldom over 10 inches in diameter and 60 feet high. Where much exposed it is reduced to mere brush. The other trees, silver fir, hemlock, cottonwood, and balm of Gilead, are small and so isolated as to be of no commercial importance. 44 FOREST RESERVES. ESTIMATES. Any attempt to estimate 4,800 square miles of very irregulazly patched and broken forest in four months must have a somewhat unsatisfactory result. While the closest estimates are expected to come within 10 per cent of the actual amount, these can only be hoped to lie within 50 per cent, but they are all believed to be less than the actual amount. These estimates are made on the basis of practice in the Lake States, viz, estimating as log timber every stick that will make a log 12 feet long, 6 inches in diameter at small end, and scaling two-thirds of a full scale. In making the estimate it was of course necessary to pass many square miles by with only a cursory view from a mountain or hilltop. Small representative areas were examined in detail, and on these the general estimate was based. These estimates are as follows: Estimate of timber in Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve, Montana, by areas. Locality. Feet B. M. Cords. Bastern Slopes. 4-65te 22 - eaee eee 63, 000, 000 1,579, 000 | Middle Fork of Flathead -...-.-..-..---- 154,000,000 | — 1,500, 000 South Fork of Flathead.............-.--- 442, 360, 000 | 5,130,000 | Swar-Clearwaten: tes-2 see ae eee 1, 985, 000, 000 4, 660, 000 Total oo. 2.58. fact asst ae ee eee ee 2, 644, 360, 000 12, 869, 000 Estimate of timber in Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve, Montana, by species. Feet. Wharehs 2.22 33icc o552 22 eee be tas ee tise ose gee oe ae 1, 265, 444, 000 Wiite pine) .255/526 3-48 ao hee ete Se re eee 26, 547, 200 Yellow pine - 222.220 soe gee atee sonata ee = eee ee 235, 388, 800 Red firs. Bhs AR ee ee ee 647, 690, 000 Spruce, Soo s sas a ssa as eee eee oe eee re oe at area 390, 622, 000 Lodgépole pine: 2.2 =. ac casce8 See ee eee eee en 118, 668. 000 YOUNG GROWTH. On the areas shown as recently burned the young growth is quite small and has been described under the head of reproduction. On the older burns it is common to find a dense stock of saplings; but these, as a rule, are principally lodgepole pine, especially on the slopes east of the Continental Divide. Engelmann spruce and red fir have made their appearance on some of these old burns, but rather subordinate to lodgepole pine. In rapidity of growth they are inferior, and in numbers they constitute but a small proportion of the new forest. “LNYNG ATLHDIT ONV ATLN3SNO3YS ANId MOTWISA “SONITGSSS 3SYVdS HLIM ‘Yla G3Y GNY '3Nid MODISA ‘HOYT 'F IX “Td ALYWd LHOd3aY IWONNY JSHIS-ALNSML ABAYNS 1V9I901039 "s ‘nN U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT PART V PL. XII A. MILL ON SMITH CREEK, SOUTHWEST OF HAYSTACK BUTTE. B DEADWOOD PARTLY CUT, SOUTH FORK OF TETON CREEK AYRES.] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 45 On the tracts that have been unburned for many years seedlings have sprung up as the old trees have died and fallen, so that these old forests are composed of trees of all ages, and in them the saplings too small for log timber constitute a very important factor to be considered in forest management. In many cases the mature trees may be cut out for lumber and the saplings left will be a sufficient stock, partly grown, for a new harvest of logs. By carefully marking the trees to be cut and by using care to preserve this young stock, the continuity of the forest may be unbroken by logging operations. In this old forest the young growth is apt to have a large propor- tion of spruce and a small proportion of lodgepole pine, as the shade of the old trees is favorable to the starting of spruce, but unfavorable to the pine. Next in proportion to spruce, red fir is common, and in the more open places balsam follows next in order, while larch and lodgepole pine choose the spots that are most free from underbrush and grasses. Yellow pine seems to come in only on lands that have bare earth. The areas having old mixed forests with a fair stock of young growth are very few on the eastern slope, except in some of the smaller valleys near the Continental Divide. Such areas occur on the headwaters of the Middle Fork and on the western tributaries of the North Fork of Sun River; also on the Middle Fork and on the lower half of the South Fork of Flathead River. The lower portion of the Swan River Valley, although considerably scarred by fires, has much of such forest still remaining, especially in the tributary gulches. The upper portions of these valleys have been overrun by moderate fires that have thinned the forest, and while most of the land is restocked, the seedlings are seldom over 10 feet high. UNDERBRUSH. The principal species of brush are alder, willow, dogwood, buck- brush, waxbush, yew, squawberry, service berry, brittlebrush, and juniper. Beside these shrubs, some of the trees often grow in such a manner as to practically form an underbrush in the forest, especially after a light fire that has not seriously thinned the forest, yet has permitted seedlings to start. In general, the underbrush is not dense. With the exception of some of the damper ravines where yew abounds, the brush would offer no serious difficulty to taking horses anywhere, unless through the aspen thickets on the eastern slope (see Pl. XI, 4). Brush is most abundant, perhaps, in the valley of the Middle Fork and in the lower portion of the valley of the South Fork of Flathead River and in the lower portion of the Swan River Valley. In the higher altitudes, especially where exposed, balsam and spruce, and east of the Continental Divide limber pine, are frequently matted 46 FOREST RESERVES. close to the ground, forming dense but small impenetrable thickets, although they are tree species. Except where kept in subjection by light fires brush is usually abundant enough to be a serious hindrance to logging operations and to prevent the ready starting of seedlings. CUTTING. There are three small sawmills within the reserve, one on the South Fork of Depuyer Creek, another on the South Fork of Teton Creek, and a third on Smith Creek, southwest of Haystack Butte (Pl. XII, A). The logs for these mills are taken from the mountain sides or the basins above them. For the mill first mentioned the logs are twitched down the mountain side to the stream, then floated with great difficulty about 2 miles through the canyon to the mill at its mouth. Some 300,000 feet B. M. have been cut in the valley of the South Fork of Depuyer Creek. This timber was spruce, red fir, and lodgepole pine. The second mill is near the head of the South Fork of Teton Creek, about 6 miles from the plains. The logs are being taken from the mountain side near the mill and are almost entirely spruce and lodge- pole pine. On the forks of Teton Creek are several old mill sites, and, roughly estimated, a million feet B. M. have been cut on the South Fork and 600,000 feet on the North Fork. The mill on Smith Creek, but a short distance within the reserve line, is cutting logs from the high mountain side south of the head- waters of the stream. The logs are dragged with much difficulty and some danger about 2 miles down the steep slope. The timber used is lodgepole pine and spruce. There is little red fir in the basin. About a million feet B. M. of all kinds have been cut in this valley. Besides the log timber cut east of the divide, some 300,000 railroad ties have been cut and floated down to the Helena branch of the Great Northern Railway. Some 200,000 of these were cut on the North Fork of Sun River and approximately 100,000 on Dearborn Creek. All along the eastern front of the mountains the people from the treeless plains get fuel, house logs, and poles for fences and corrals. Almost every little valley that is wooded and that is reasonably accessible has a well-used wagon road leading into the timber. The people come and cut the timber as they need it, loading it immedi- ately upon their wagons without leaving any amount cut and lying upon the ground, even over night. Ranchmen, as a rule, bring their own teams, but for village supplies there are half-breeds living among the foothills who make a business of taking out the wood and selling it. A colony of these woodeutters was found on the South Fork of Teton Creek (see Pl. XVIII, 2), another on Smith Creek, and another on Dearborn, near the mouth of Falls Creek. Altogether about 62,000 Wad NVOIWYVld 4O 1SV3 SSTIW € ‘YSAIY NYOSYV3SG YAddN ‘688! 40 NUN Mix “Id A Luvd 4140d34 TWONNY 1LSHIS-ALNSML « T ‘3399 GlOvV1d NO DSNIGGINS GNY DNILLND FF A3AYNS 1V9INO103D *s "nN AYRES. ] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 47 cords of fuel, house logs, and fencing have been cut on the eastern slope of the mountains. Along the Great Northern Railway there has been a great deal of cutting for bridge timber and ties, and besides some material has been taken for fuel, cribbing, tunnel timber, wagon bridges, and corduroys. The construction camps also have taken a large amount. On account of lack of time no attempt has been made to estimate the amount of this material. It is said that all or nearly all the bridge and tie timber used in the construction of the railway through the mountains from Columbia Falls to Midvale was taken from the woods along the line. Elsewhere on the reserve the only cutting has been for the cabins of prospectors, hunters, and trappers, and the few squatters in the Swan-Clearwater Valley, and for trails or camp use. The logging operations of the Blackfoot Milling Company, on the Clearwater drainage, have worked up to but have not cut over the south line of the reserve. The logs are floated down Blackfoot River (see Pls. XIII, A, and XV, .A). FIRES. Extent.—Only the areas recently burned, or those overrun by fire within the last forty years, have been shown on the map. The older ones have lost the characteristics and the features of burns that make them noticeable in the distant view necessary in mapping them. They haye either become barrens or have been restocked with trees. A considerable but undeterminable portion of the mountain ridges shown on the map (PI. III) as bare or destitute of forest has been made so by fires that have exterminated the stunted forests which were just able to exist under the severity of climate without the fire. Meny of the eastern foothills now grassed prove upon close exami- nation to have been once wooded; for here and there upon them old charred roots and stumps are found. The fire lines on the map can be drawn only approximately, for the effects of fire often fade out with an impreceptible border. Roughly estimated, the recently and severely burned areas within the reserve are as follows: Areas recently burned in Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve, Montana. Square miles. BasiommnerOontinental Divides. -- aes. 20 seSen cose nce ecccce- seeeceoese ce 600 WiirdidlepbonksoimPlatheadiRiverss-- 2-225. a2 15 20 25 w Miles. lo d a ee > E AYRES.] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 65 Wagener has 200 acres fenced in in pasture, and Hannon has about 30 horses on the North Fork of Sun River. On Ford Creek two ranches were found; one, recently established, has no land under cultivation; the other, on the main stream, has about 100 acres in grain and hay. At the head of Ford Creek about 500 cattle and as many sheep were found grazing July 27. This stock is owned by several different per- sons, the Fords, having ranches on the lower creek, being the principal owners. About the mouth of Falls Creek are several cabins occupied by half breeds who cut and saw wood from the reserve. About 5,000 sheep, said to be owned by J. C. Fay, of Hogan, Montana, were graz- ing in the valley of Falls Creek August 1. Water power.—TYhe numerous streams (averaging about 6 miles apart) furnish many water powers along the eastern border of the reserve. Sun River, the largest, was about 300 feet wide and 3 feet deep, with rapid current July 24. Dearborn River, next in size, was 100 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and moderately rapid. Ford, Deep, Depuyer, Birch, and Badger creeks in July were each 25 feet or more wide and 2 feet deep, with strong current. Mining.—Some prospecting for gold and copper is being done on Smith Creek. Otherwise no mining operations were noticed. The principal rock is limestone. VALLEY OF MIDDLE FORK OF FLATHEAD RIVER. Topography.—This valley lies partly within and partly without the reserve. About 576 square miles, in a fairly compact body, are in- cluded within the boundaries. The portion of the valley outside the reserve is a strip, seldom more than 4 miles wide, along the Great Northern Railway. The portion within the reserve, while not reaching into the highest altitudes of the range, is still very rough and moun- tainous, excepting along the bottoms of the main valley and the two principal branches. With this exception there is very little level land. The principal areas are occupied by irregular mountain ridges and peaks, the highest of which hold snow in drifts throughout the year. The portion outside the reserve is simply a mountain side along Sum- mit Creek and the Middle Fork of Flathead River below the mouth of Summit Creek. fock.—Limestone is the principal rock occupying the summits of all the higher ridges, but shales and schists are found in the banks of the river where it cuts across the range. Some beds of quartzite outcrop in the mountain sides, but these are much thinner than those in the mountains north of the railroad. Soil.—As the soil is derived principally from limestone, it may be expected to be rich in plant food; and, in fact, wherever there is moist earth, unencumbered by snow, vegetation is luxuriant. A large part of the mountain summits is bare rock. Much of this area was once 21 GEOL, PT 5 5 66 FOREST RESERVES. wooded, but fires have so thoroughly consumed the mosses and humus covering the surface that trees could not grow there now. Litter.—The amount of litter in this valley is greater than in any of the others. On the burned areas the trees killed by fire form a net- work over the ground, except where fires have been repeated and severe. On the unburned areas, covering nearly all of the two main forks of the valley, the old trees and others killed by overcrowding have fallen and such an amount of material has accumulated that it is difficult to take horses through the woods. Humus.—Corresponding with litter, humus is very light or wanting on the burns and heavy where the forest is uninjured by the fire. Both the west branch and the east are covered by a dense growth of trees, and excepting a small area near the forks have escaped fire many years. This freedom from fire has permitted humus to accu- mulate to a depth of 2 or 3 inches over most of the valley. There are occasionally willow bottoms where black muck has a depth of a foot or more, but these have no large area. Trees and timber.—Of this tract about 124 square miles are timbered. Besides this, 110 square miles are fairly covered with wood, about 180 are naturally bare, being on the high summits, and 162 square miles have been severely burned. Outside of the reserve some 35 square miles are scantily wooded with spruce and balsam, with some lodgepole pine, larch, and red fir on the lower slopes—perhaps 20 million feet B. M. of log timber and 200,000 cords of other material. The remaining 115 square miles are either burned or naturally barren. The species here do not differ from those in the South Fork Valley. Engelmann spruce is the principal timber tree. Larch, red fir, and lodgepole pine follow inimportance. Balsam abounds on the higher mountain slopes, but is of little or no commercial importance. White pine may occur, but it was not noticed. Extimates.—The amount of log timber in the portion of the valley within the reserve is roughly estimated at 154 million feet B. M. Besides this log timber, there are about 1,500,000 cords of material unfit for the saw. The log timber is about 30 per cent spruce, 25 per cent larch, 20 per cent lodgepole pine, 20 per cent red fir, and 5 per cent other species. As to size and quality, there is great variety. In the ravines are tall and straight spruce of rapid growth and usually sound, while on exposed ridges are dwarfed and knotty trees often defective. Young growth.—Except on the burn on the main fork of the stream, there is no great amount of young growth. On the larger burns restocking has been scant and the trees are yet small. Among the older trees some young ones have started as the mature trees have fallen and made openings. These are of various sizes and are promis- ing for timber. But there are not in all cases enough to form a new stock of desirable kinds if the old trees were cut. The abundance of brush is a serious hindrance to the starting of seedlings. U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT PART V_ PL. XXV A. SWAN LAKE, LOOKING SOUTHWARD FROM FOINT 3 MILES ABOVE OUTLET. B, LOOKING TOWARD McDONALD PEAK FROM SWAN-CLEARWATER PASS, AYRES. ] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 67 Underbrush.—Underbrush is more abundant than in any other por- tion of the reserve. The litter and brush make the trail through this valley almost impassable. Most of the hills east of the river, however, have been burned until they are almost free from brush. West of the river burns are older and brush has had time to reappear. Fires.—About 95 square miles within the reserve and 60 outside of it have been severely burned within the past twelve years. The hills east of the river are almost barren as a result of fire. The origin of most of these fires seems to have been along the railway, and they probably started either during the grading operations, or from sparks, cinders, or camp fires along the line since. It is said that at the time of the grading of the road there were two dry seasons, and fires were burning everywhere through the mountains. These statements are confirmed by the conditions in which we now find the forest. The fires at this dry time were almost invariably severe, killing all the forest through which they ran. Very few trees, indeed, are left living; only a few clumps in damper places, often several miles apart. Owing to the severity of these burns, reproduction has been scant. Most of the new stock is lodgepole pine, and most of this is near the border of unburned forests. Probably not over 20 per cent of the burns are restocked with seedlings of any species. The view over the mountains south of Bear Creek reveals a very few small unburned tracts in the most sheltered places, but the surface is nearly all bare, with the exception of a few dead trees, either standing or fallen. Deadwood.—Perhaps 100,000 cords of deadwood are standing within this portion of the reserve and 150,000 cords outside of the reserve line along the railroad. Cutting.—W ithin the lines of the reserve there has been no cutting except for camps and trails, but on the adjoining strip a great deal was cut during the construction of the railway for ties, bridge timber, and fuel. No attempt was made to estimate the amount of this material, as there was not time. Transportation.—The only outlet for this valley is down the stream. The stream is drivable at moderate expense, and at Java touches the Great Northern Railway. The material outside the reserve, in the narrow strip along the railway, is, compared with the rest of the region, very accessible, as it is only necessary to chute the timber down the mountain side to load it on the cars. Demand.—Probably none of the material on this tract could be sold to-day at any price on the stump. East of this point, as at Midvale, and even near Summit, there is a growing demand for deadwood to be used on the plains eastward, but as this tract is on the western slope and below some of the heavier grades it could probably not compete at present with material from the eastern slope of the mountains, which now commands a price of only 25 cents a cord on the stump. 68 FOREST RESERVES. Agricultural land.—There is no prospect for agriculture in the valley except, perhaps, that on a few spots the vegetables or hay needed by lumbermen or miners working in the valley could be grown. Water power. —W ater power is abundant, the rapid fall of the stream furnishing many mill sites. Occupancy.—There is no one liying within the reserve, but along the railroad below are some three or four resident squatters. Essex is quite a little village, supported by railroad work, this place being used as a coaling station and for keeping engines used in helping up the mountain grade. At the other stations—Bear Creek, Java, Paola, and Nyack—are nothing but section houses. Mining.—Along Summit Creek, not far above Java, are some mining prospects, staked during the season of 1898. Aside from these no claims were noticed in the reserve. VALLEY OF SOUTH FORK OF FLATHEAD RIVER. Topography.—TVhe area of this tract is about 1,860 square miles. Excepting about 240 square miles draining into the Blackfoot, of which the surface is irregularly mountainous, with very narrow stream bottoms, this area comprises the whole drainage basin of the South Fork of the Flathead River. This basin is about 92 miles long and from 10 to 30 miles wide. It is bounded on the west by the high and sharp Kalispell Range, on the east by the Sheep Horn or Stanton Range, which southeastward joins the Continental Divide and with it forms an irregular boundary. This range has very rough topography on its western slope. For some 40 miles above the mouth of the South Fork the valley is narrow and, excepting some recesses in the mountains eastward, fairly uniform, but above or southward the parallel ridges forming the foot- hills of the Continental Divide are sharply cut across by streams, and a very rugged topography is the result. The west branch of the South Fork has a fan-shaped drainage, the western tributaries of which head in the mountains about Pend Oreille Pass and flow through sharp canyons until they reach the main stream. Willow Creek, which joins the West Fork to form the South Fork of the Flathead, has a much broader valley bottom than the West Fork. Above the first canyon there is an area of gravelly land with a maximum width of about 3 miles. About 8 miles above the first canyon is a short canyon through a ridge which cuts the valley in two near its middle. Above this canyon is a willow bottom about 7 miles long and from half a mile to a mile wide. This glaciated U-shaped valley continues southward beyond the headwaters of Willow Creek to those of the North Fork of the Blackfoot. The divide between the two streams is so low that the headwaters of Willow Creek could easily be turned into those of the North Fork of tho Blackfoot. ‘AA TIVA YSAIY NYMS Y3ddN 'HOYVT GNV SNId MOVIZA ‘7 HOYVT GNY 3Nid 310d39007 'ANIid MO1I3SA 30 1S3YO4 GAXIN 'F JAXX “Id A LYVd LYOd34 TVOANNY 1SHId-ALNSML AZAYNS 1¥9IDO1039 "Ss ‘Nn AYRES.] LEWIS AND OLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 69 Fock.—Limestone forms the principal crests on each side of the valley, and in the limestone are some beds of quartzite, the quartzite being most abundant southward, where a transverse uplift, which reaches across the whole Rocky Mountain Range, forms the divide at the head of the South Fork of the Flathead River. Along both the Sheep Horn and the Kalispell ranges green schistose rocks are found in occasional outcrops. The lower portion of the valley of the South Fork is occupied by Cretaceous or allied rocks, in which are some beds of lignite coal. Soil.—Derived almost entirely from limestone rocks, the soil is pro- ductive wherever loam is abundant and well moistened, but large areas are gravelly and too thoroughly drained. Near the mouth of the tributaries, however, there are usually some areas of very fertile soil. The mountain ridges are usually bare and rocky. The slopes below produce a vigorous growth of such vegetation as can endure the peculiar variations of excessive moisture and drought to which these mountain sides are subjected. Throughout the valley are many iso- lated small areas of wet land, commonly called sloughs, which now have a growth of wire grass, flat grass, or blue joint. These have a deep accumulation of muck, which usually proves fertile after drain- ing and weathering. ‘The depth of the soil is usually very slight, sel- dom more than 2 or 3 inches on the bench lands, although it may reach 6 inches, or even a foot, about the mouths of ravines. Subsoil.—The subsoil is greatly variable. In general, the banks and benches along the river are gravel; yet, in many places, clay banks are exposed in river bluffs and miry tracts of clay can hardly be avoided by the trails. For several miles below the mouth of White- water River much clay was noticed, both in the bluffs and’on the river bottom. Some of these clay deposits are saline, especially near the tops of the bluffs, which are often 200 feet above the river. The beds are stratified and probably settled in post-Glacial time from water held back by a natural dam, a short distance below the mouth of Bear Creek. Such dams must have been common as the glaciers were receding, for along the main valley many terraces are seen and at several different levels. Asa rule, the gravels do not extend far up the mountain side, and above them the subsoil is practically formed from the local rock and consists largely of clay mingled with rock fragments. The general color of the subsoil is a reddish buff or brown. TTumus.—Humus is fairly abundant, except on burns and gravel ridges, where it is slight in proportion to the intensity of the burn or the dryness and exposure of the ridge. This soil has been formed since the recession of the glaciers and is but slightly colored by humus. The color seldom exceeds a depth of 2 or 3 inches. In the unburned forest, well-decomposed material is commonly found 2 or 3 70 FOREST RESERVES. inches deep. But where burned, all such material is consumed, except in the damper spots, or where the fire has been exceptionally light. Litter.—Vhere is only a moderate amount of litter, even on the burns. Most of the fires that have occurred have been severe and have cleaned up the smaller litter quite thoroughly. That falling since the fire of 1889 is coarse and principally the trunks of trees killed by that fire. In the unburned woods the trees killed by overcrowding and the branches that are oyershaded and drop off accumulate to a moderate amount, but are seldom so abundant as to obstruct the passage of horses through the woods. Trees and timber.—Larch, red fir, spruce, yellow pine, white pine, and lodgepole pine are the principal timber trees. In addition to these, balsam, nut pine, cedar, hemlock, and cottonwood occur, the first two abundantly on upper mountain slopes and sometimes reaching to the valley bottom. Silver fir and cottonwood occur sparingly (see Pl. XXIV, A). Roughly estimated, according to the custom in the Lake States, the amount of log timber and other material above 3 inches in diameter is as follows: Amount of log timber above 3 inches in diameter in valley of South Fork of Flathead River, Montana. Species. Feet B. M. Cords. BF Nel a StS ee elo Bie SEE ey ea Oe ee Seg 176, 944, 000 1, 000, 000 Mellow: pine}is.. sp sees ewes naeseeeere Bape eUO! Wea scootnesess Redufir 2a. 2. sas ane Saree eee ee 110, 590, 000 876, 000 Sprucei.:- ase escceee see eee eee 88, 472, 000 1, 096, 000 Wihite\pine 232. ceccenc eee eee 8, 847, 200 300, 000 luodgepolewpine 4-2 =~ sae eee ee eee eeeae 22, 118, 000 1, 008, 000 Balsam: >. \-c: £5 26g 2h cn Soe ees hee ee Seen eee 800, 000 Cedar, hemlock, and others ........-..--- EP 8 os cor Sa ee 50, 000 | Lotalls 222 as ee ee ee Rene ae a 442, 360, 000 5, 130, 000 The maximum sizes of the timber are approximately as follows: Size of timber in valley of South Fork of Flathead River, Montana. Yellow pine-..5.225 2: Sack ee Sa doce Se ceesae tes eee 40 inches by 90 feet [Red htin® 22a See tas ees ee eee eee eee = SS Seer 36 inches by 80 feet Marehs. 2223052 ls sadeeeessese scenes tes so See Pees 40 inches by 150 feet Spree J2-¢ seen soadscbectniee coe aeee eee ee eee eemecee 30 inches by 100 feet White. pine. 5 js2cme2 cece sess eee sae tose eee eens 30 inches by 125 feet Balsam: 22 S22 ceo 2S casa ee eee ee eee ae 20 inches by 70 feet Nut pitle of... ociens Skee sa. ae ree ee ene ate ere 20 inches by 70 feet Tod ge poleypin Creer ae ea eae 24 inches by 90 feet TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT PART V PL. XXVII U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Depuver we S282 Cn Elizabeth PO. JULIUS BIEN & CO. 1.Y LEWIS AND CLARK FOREST RESERVE MONTANA Showing distribution of yellow pine, white -bark pine,and limber pine Prepared under the direction of Henry Gannett, Geographer in charge BY H.B. AYRES eee £ 10 sce £ 20 25. 30Miles Sketch coutours 1899 LEGEND hae ] YELLOW PINE WHITE-BARK PINE LIMBER PINE eal (Pinus ponderosa) =| (Pinus albicaulis) ee ee oeiits) ¥ - + ' F 2 , » s e : had Ps ( Lor ,& "ou . ‘ m ‘ 7 ah y , ' 7 a 7 9 , p . i we AYRES. ] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. 71 In quality there is a great variety, according to the situation where grown. In general, the timber has grown in dense forests and is fairly free from large knots. The yellow pine, as usual, borders the prairies and other openings, and is limby above the first 25 or 30 feet from the ground. It is often fire scarred in the butt. Red fir, while less defective here than on the eastern slope, is often found full of dry rot. Lodgepole pine is usually sound and fairly clear, though small. White pine is frequently defective; in fact, it is seldom sound. Much of it is dying, and in dying the sapwood turns blue. Besides this defect, it is common to find dry rot in the trunks, and the many defective logs greatly increase the cost of logging. Some cedar 34 inches in diameter and 75 feet high was seen, but this size is exceptional. There are no large areas of this species. It is limited to ravines and other damp places. Nut pine is greatly variable in quality, seldom being suitable for log timber, and where suitable it is so inaccessible as to be of no commer- cial value. Young growth.—W ith few exceptions, there is a fair stock of young trees throughout the forest. The tracts not burned have young trees coming in where the old have fallen. Most of the burns in the low country are being fairly restocked, but the burns of 1889 were so severe that reproduction on them, as found on Hungry Horse, Upper Gordon Creek, and the eastern slope of the Kalispell Range, has been scant. Willow Creek, however, is fairly well stocked, but all the young growth there is small, usually from 2 to 10 feet high. But little of the unburned forest lacks sufficient young growth to constitute a new stock were the mature trees cut. On the burned land, however, the trees being small and usually all of one kind, the problem of thinning and securing a valuable stock would be a more difficult one, for the severe burns have little else than lodgepole pine. Underbrush.—The species most abundant here are alder, maple, spirea, dogwood, willow, brittlebrush, yew, juniper, redroot, and squawberry. These are often dense enough to form a serious obstruc- tion to logging operations, especially on or near the bottom, where dogwood and yew are dense under the spruce. These species follow up the water courses into the gulches on the mountain sides, leaving ridges, especially the moraines, fairly free from brush. The northern mountain slopes, especially in high altitudes, have brittle brush and huckleberry in some abundance. The medium altitudes, both on the slopes and flats, especially if moist, have maple and yew often so dense as to be difficult to pass through; but the southern slopes and gravelly benches have some clumps of alder, service berry, squawberry, and redroot, but, as a rule, not enough brush to obstruct travel through them. (Z FOREST RESERVES. Fires and reproduction. —On the Blackfoot drainage about 175 square miles, and on the South Fork of Flathead inside of the reserve about 310 square miles, and outside of the reserve 10 square miles, have been burned over severely. Most of this area was burned, some of it for the second time, in 1889. All the burns indicated on the map (PI. ITI) have been severe, and very few live trees are left on these areas. They frequently have a network of fallen trees, among which some dead trees remain standing. Most of the humus has been burned off, and the earth is left bare. Along the borders of surviving forests condi- tions seem to be favorable for reproduction. In such places the forest has furnished seed, which has found a good place to germinate in the bare surface left by the fire. Away from the green woods, however, and in the high altitudes, where seeding is less abundant and where the less productive balsam and spruce prevail, the young stock is far less abundant. In the valley of Willow Creek reproduction is espe- cially good, and 40,000 young lodgepole pine to the acre are frequently found. Some of the damper areas have a stock of Engelmann spruce and red fir or larch. The areas subjected to repeated fires have very little new growth, and this is almost invariably lodgepole pine. There is no doubt that some of the fires, especially on the higher ranges, are due to lightning, but most of those in the valley seem to have been set by Indian and other hunting parties or by prospectors. The trails most frequented by Indians, as the Jocko and Pend Oreille, are noticeably burned, especially about the camping places. The lower portion of the valley shows the effect of railroad fires, started either during the construction of the road, or by campers along the track, or by sparks from locomotives. Effect of jires.—These fires have greatly reduced the area of wood lands; in fact, the forest here is some £50 square miles less on account of them. The humus and fine litter consumed has probably averaged 2 inches in depth, aggregating, approximately, 86 million cubic yards. The effect of the fires upon the composition of the forest has been to increase the proportion of lodgepole pine. Probably 90 per cent of the stock coming in is of this species. The effect of fires upon the policy of forest management must be serious. The new stock of trees will not be large enough for any commercial use for nearly fifty years, and in composition these burned tracts are reduced to less desirable species. On old burns some inclination to return to the original species was found, notably on the head of the North Fork of Black- foot River, where spruce was found coming in under lodgepole pine. Larch, red fir, and white pine, too, sometimes reappear under lodgepole pine on old burns, but this reappearance is always slow, and market- able log timber can hardly be expected from these species naturally reseeded on burns in less than one hundred years. PL. XXVIII PART V TWENTY-F RST ANNUAL REPORT GEOLOSICAL SURVEY U. Ss. Tie 2 Ae SO Big wR IN LODGEPOLE PINE. OF LINE OF BURN B LARGE YELLOW PINE, 2 MILES NORTH OF HOLLAND'S RANCH, A UPPER SWAN RIVER VALLEY. AYRES.] LEWIS AND OLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA AS Deadwood.—TVhe amount of deadwood standing is only about 600,000 cords, and this has no market value where it stands. Probably all will be fallen before it becomes accessible or marketable. Cutting.—There has been no cutting on this tract except for cabins and camp use, unless it be in the extreme northwest corner of the reserve, which could not be located exactly, as the boundary lines there have not been surveyed. Many ties were made in that vicinity and put into the track during the construction of the road. Transportation.—The only way to get timber out of this region is northwestward, or down the stream. Were it not for several bad ‘anyons, the river would be drivable for at least 80 miles above its mouth. It is possible these canyons can be improved so as to per- mit log driving, but the expense would be great. Elsewhere on the river driving would often be difficult because of the wide bed of the river and the frequent gravel bars. A railroad along the river could be built with easy grade, but the expense would be considerable, owing to frequent cut banks and ravines, and it is questionable whether the timber interests alone would warrant the construction of such a road. Demand.—At present, excepting possibly in the extreme north- western part of the reserve, timber has no market value where it stands. Prices at the nearest mill, Columbia Falls, are $3 per M, and fuel, at present, hardly commands any stumpage. Agricultural land.—While some vegetables and hay would doubt- less grow in favorable spots throughout the valley, the liability of destructive frosts at any time during the season precludes the possi- bility of commercial agriculture. Perhaps 80 square miles are level enough to be arable, but much of this is gravelly and unsuitable for agriculture except for garden spots, to supply lumber or mining vamps, in case of special need. Irrigation.—V ery little water, indeed, will ever be used for irriga- tion in this valley, but it is possible that it may be used in the Flathead Valley ovtside of the mountains, where agriculture, though carried on at present without irrigation, would be improved by it. Occupancy.—There are about half a dozen cabins in the valley, but these are not occupied all the year. They belong to prospectors, who use them only while doing their assessment work. Water power is abundant along the main stream and three of the tributaries. Spotted Bear and two streams from the west are large enough to furnish power for sawmills. There are several very favorable sites for dams, and large amounts of water could be held above the canyons. Mining.—No ore has been shipped from the valley, but several claims are held in the ower portion for coal, gold, silver, and copper. Water power. -I _ FOREST RESERVES. SWAN-CLEARWATER VALLEY. Topography.—This tract, having an area of about 728 square miles. is about 59 miles long and varies from 8 to 16 miles wide. The Mis- sion Range on the west and the Kalispell Range on the east are high and sharp, and the low lands, increasing in width above the lakes, are undulating to rolling, and remarkably uniform in general topographic features. Rock.—W hile outcroppings of limestone and quartzite, underlain by green schists, are almost continuous along the bordering mountain ranges, no outcrops were found in the bottom of the valley. There are certainly very few there. The bowlders of the valley are in gen- eral of the same material as found in place on the mountain sides, whence they have been brought by glacial action. Soil.—About the head of Swan Lake clays are prevalent and reach continuously some distance up the valley, as far as Soup Creek. Above this point, both up Swan River and its lateral tributaries, the soil is greatly varied, though in general a glacial till, with beds or banks of bowlder clay, and morainic ridges reaching out of the moun- tain gorges. The material left by the glaciers has been considerably modified by the later action of the water, especially near the river. A short distance above Lion Creek, or about 16 miles in a direct line above Swan Lake, sand and gravel become more prevalent over the general surface, and instead of large bowlders and finer sediments, as found to the northward, there are eenth of this point ridges and mounds of sandy and gravelly material with intervening meadows, often without surface drainage. Occasionally clay tracts are found in this portion of the valley, but this clay does not seem more productive than the sand. It is, in fact, sometimes found nearly barren. The ‘big burn,” having an area of about 5 square miles, about 28 miles above the lake, has a clayey soil, and is only about half covered with vegeta- tion (lodgepole pine).* In proceding southward above the ** big burn,” little other than sandy or gravelly land was seen, except in the bluffs along water courses. As regards productiveness, the lower portion of the valley, or that rithin 16 miles of Swan Lake, which is more clayey, has with few exceptions a heavy covering of vegetation. This is in contrast with the lands of the upper valley, where the rather scant covering of larch and lodgepole pine at first gives the impression of a very poor soil, but upon close examination it is found that the sparseness of tree growth is largely due to frequently occurring fires which have thinned the forest. The soil of the upper portion of the valley is really better than one would consider it is in passing hastily eee it. 1 The Eonaition of this land is very much like the tract amen in the year 1898, on the North Fork of Flathead River, and the cause of such barrenness invites study. 3yWV1 GlOv1d YVAN "HOYVT ONY ‘Yl4d G3Y '3Nid 370d39007 40 HLMOYD ‘Wival OWDOP ‘310d39007 JLVNIGYOSNS ‘'ANIld MONIZSA 394V1 =F “YSQONN HLIM HOYVT ONIAIAUNS ‘S3Yl4 3LVYSQOW 4O 1934453 ‘VF XIXX “Td A LHVd 1HOd34 TVANNY LSYIS-ALNIML A3AYNS 1¥91901039 *S “Nn PL. XXX PART V TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY W., RESTOCKED DENSELY WITH RED FIR. 19 6N., R. STUMP LAND IN T, 2 A. LARCH AND LODGEPOLE PINE ON BURN OF B. AYRES.] LEWIS AND CLARKE RESERVE, MONTANA. lis Subsoil.—Bowlder clay and gravels, as usual in these once glaciated mountain valleys, constitute the greater portion of the subsoil. For about 16 miles above Swan Lake, however, a depressed, narrow strip in the central portion of the valley, which seems to have been occupied by the lake, has silts and fine alluvium, varied according to accidents in the work of streams that brought such material into the lake. Outside of this depression, however, both between it and the mountains, and in the valley above, or south of it, the recent deposits of fine material are not abundant, and bowlder clays, gravels, sands, and silts are almost the only subsoils. Very deep beds of very porous gravel, which cause prairie openings common in many of the mountain valleys, because of too thorough subdrainage for trees, are not common, although the greater portion of the upper valley is so dry as to be adapted only to such dry-land trees as larch and lodgepole pine. HTumus.—Humus is light except in the lower portion of the valley, where it has been less burned and where it seems damper than above, or south of the old lake basin, which extends about 16 miles south of the present head of Swan Lake. Below the benches along the small streams there is frequently quite a depth of black earth, but in the morainic region nearer the mountains and southward across the main valley there is but little humus outside of the depressions that are so damp as to never burn deeply. Litter.—Litter is correspondingly light where burns have been at all recent and abundant where the area is too damp to burn (see Pls. XXIII, B, and X XVI, A). Leaves and fine débris, however, have seldom accumulated to a depth of more than 3 or 4 inches. Probably three-fourths of the whole area of the valley has less than 2 inches of such litter, the scantiness of litter being due principally to fire. Trees and timber.—The principal timber trees of the valley are larch, red fir, and yellow pine. Others that will yield a considerable amount are spruce, white pine, and lodgepole pine. Besides these are balsam, cedar, nut pine, hemlock, aspen, and cottonwood, of little commercial value, but possibly of use for some purpose. In distribution the first three are confined to the valley bottom, the benches, and the lower foothills, and the nut pine and balsam are usually limited to the mountain ranges. The hemlock, cedar, and white pine are found only in sheltered, damp places, as in the ravines or on the lower mountain sides, and the cottonwood is confined to the banks of streams; otherwise the species are fairly well mixed, with perhaps the exception of spruce, which seeks constant moisture and avoids dry subsoil (see Pls. X XVI, B, and XXVIII, A). In size the trees in this valley are hardly as large as in some other localities. The yellow pine, for instance, on the flat between Holt and Columbia Falls, reaches a diameter of 6 feet, even 7 feet on the stump, 76 FOREST RESERVES. and a height of 150 feet, while above Swan Lake the largest trees noticed were about 4 feet in diameter and 100 feet high. Lodgepole pine was rarely seen over 14 inches in diameter and 70 feet high, while spruce is seldom found over 30 inches in diameter and 90 feet high (see Pl. XXVIII, 4). Although constituting the greater portion of the growth on the higher mountain sides, it has a size suitable for log timber only in gulches or on other damp, fertile land. The amount of log timber in the valley, roughly estimated to 8-inch top, is as follows: Log timber in Swan-Clearwater Valley, Montana. M. feet B. M. Tear Gari en SS io mie Ss SS ee eee Biel FES 1, 050, 000 Mellowepines. - :.- << =|.) 2 2S Soe eee ene etre eee ES 100, 000 Wibatevpine’ < - 2 = a2. 8: is ee eee eee era ee es ger 10, 000 Redtinie 2.13... + = 52 See ae eee eee ete ears 500, 000 BPruces.- .—- <<: S SSP eee es ee ae es en ep ne ree -. 175,000 Todgepole. pine: _ pees mats er ee eye sto ee ee eh or a 30, 000 Total. 32 foe tasers te eth hee tee ce ene ee ee ee 1, 865, 000 This estimate is regardless of accessibility, of present custom of cut- ting, and present demand. It is simply intended to express a safe estimate of the amount of log timber. For the whole amount of wood material in the valley there should be added that too small for log timber, which has been very roughly estimated in cords, as follows: Timber in Swan-Clearwater Valley too small for log timber. Cords. Woar Ch. 2.5.