The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1902-02-14
FOREST RESERVES.
ss,neth.ng About til. Reserves of Interest
to Readers

/
n,ial Report OF the Quilted States
/ Geological Survey dealing with For
est Reserves. edited by Mr.. Henry
Gannett. Geograpiier, is passing
tilrnngh the press. though not yet
published. The areas OF all the re-
serves amount TO 70,647 square miles.
and these (thirty-seven in nnmber)
lie In Washington. Oregon. Califor-
mia. Montana. Wyoming, Utah, Col
dorado. New Mexico and Arizuna, three
|of them lying also partly in Idaho
land South Dakota.
| .i'he reserves treated Of in this re-
porl are the lewis and Clarke Forest
Reserve, 4,572 square miles, of Mon
tana. the Mount Rainier Forest Re-
serve, 1865 square miles. and the
OLYMPIC forest reserve, 3,0o6 square
niles. OF Washington; the Ashland
forest reserve. $50 square miles, and
the southern part Of the Cascade
raasc forest reserve, OF Oregon; the
Lake Tahoe. 2i3 square miles, and
the Stanislans. 1880 square miles f0r-
est Reserves Of California. There are
included also classi ficabinn accord
ing TO timber OF lands in the Tnsc-
mfr. the Sonora, and other qsad-
rangles; detailed description by
Township and range of the woodlands
Of Indian Territory: and a discussion
Of timber conditions or the pine re-
gion OF Minnesota. These reports are
Of interest to the hatanist IA well ia
tn the general public.
Lying south and west OF the Black
foot Indian reservations, east of Flat
head Lake and OF the Flathead Ta-
dian reservation. in Montana. The
Lewis and Clarke fnrast reserve. nf
4.573 square miles. nr 9 9as ,A0. acres
"a described By Mr. n r .Avres, cc-
cunies the whole. breadth Of the
Roxy Mountaias. excepting The
northwestern slope Of Mission Ridge.
the summit IT which farms the great
e- nartfa the WESTERN !su;,,.dary ne She
reserve. Thesnfirrresarva is noun
!!s;afna.s, ha-:nr s,,arn nc-.h a.,.: san.,.
ranges and nar:nwva!seys The prin-
leipal peaks are over pun feel I'D ss...
meif valleys. t.s,s ;sfs: 4.
|fude, The reserve 4ssara:mca t,y ne.
fiuents at The Missouri River on .hn
east. ri the Fiathead on the north,
and nj the. Riackfnot on the south
Limestone. said TO he Of good ans.itv
for huildiDg stone. Il th" ,.tara:teria-
tic rock; jgneous rocks hearing Traces
Of CONFER occur: eretaceous rn.!s
form the eastern fonffii!lS: tertiary
coai-hearing rocks are fund in ss,a
lower nortian nf the valley nf the
South Fork of .Flafhead River. which
prbduce Ignite coal: quartz ia no.
where abundant. There is no mining
withif the limitsof the reserve, and
very few mineral discoveries have
been made. Usually the soil is shall
low. and above 5000 feet the surface
is washed bare of soil. Excent about
80 square miles along Birch Greek in
| the northwestern corner. there is no
strictly agricultural land in the re-
serve, and the scattered areas Of grass
land amount in all to only about 200
square miles.
In general the area is lightly tim
hered, less than l 200 feet per acre for
the whole reserve; about 1000 feet
per acre OF merchantahle timbered
forest. Much land lies far above tim
Der line; much land has been burned
oyer, and restocking, in various stag
ca, is going on. The stand uf timber
IS estimated by Mr. Ayres al 1894
360. 900 feet B. NJ. of mercliantabIe
quality, and IL .569. 900 cords OF fire.
wood. He estimates also that l.l78.-
600 cords of fire-killed timber is still
standing, aud that 1.42O square miles,
about one-third of the reserve, has
been recently and severely burned.
The forest is. in the main. open. with
little underbrush but much fallen
timber. Nearly one-half Of the tim
Der Is l;lrcil. 0ne-fOurth red fir. and
and one-fourtl yellow pine, spruce,
|inGgspoie pine, and western white
pine, Severe burns are commonly
fallowed by a growth OF lodgepole
pine. During the summer OF 1899
three small lumber mills were operat-
ing within the reserve. Mr.. AYres
emphasized the need for proper man
|agement and cutting OF the forest. He
also notes the abundance OF trout in
THE streams and tie presence of large
game in the center of the reserve.
Ttlirty-one plates illustrate the var
i0us aspects of the reserve.
Z Mr.. Fl. B. Ayres contributes also
the discussion of the timber condi-
ti0ns OF the pine region OF Minnesota.
Phese-pine lands. as shown by the
earlier Surveys, extended TO the State
line on the north and east; southwark
4 N - L.. T..