2 INTRODUCTION. 



they are now used or have been used by the Indians. Whenever possible, you will 

 also make any other notes of importance relative to the aboriginal uses of plants for 

 fiber, basket materials, or medicines. 



In connection with the subdivision of the flora into its component floras, you will 

 also note what cultivated plants are peculiarly adapted or restricted in their occur- 

 rence to each natural belt or zone. 



You will collect data which will enable you to plat upon a map the area of com- 

 mercial timber, of scattered timber, and of timberless land in the region examined. 

 You will plat your route accurately upou the map. 



You will also indicate upon the map, by polit*. ll subdivisions, if possible, and in other 

 cases by natural boundaries, such areas as, in your opinion, are desirable and suitable 

 for timber reservations in relation to the demands tor timber in local industries and 

 the preservation of water supply of the adjacent country, leaving out of the reser- 

 vation all agricultural lands. 



You will indicate what regulations, if any, are necessary to secure the proper use 

 of timber for mining or agricultural purposes within any portion of the proposed 

 reservation. 



The present report contains a larger amount of information regarding 

 the region than would be possible in the case of an ordinary investi- 

 gation. Mr. Leiberg lias lived in northern Idaho tor about ten years, 

 and during this period lias often visited the C(eur d'Alenes. sometimes 

 remaining there for several months at a time. His report, therefore, 

 is the result of a large amount of observation and experience. 



In the report as now transmitted a statement of Mr. Leiberg's recom- 

 mendations relative to timber reservations is not included. Since the 

 report was written Congress has made an appropriation for a Forestry 

 Commission, one of whose duties is to consider the general question of 

 timber reservations. This part of Mr. Leiberg's report, therefore, has 

 been withheld from publication for the present, and will be placed at 

 the disposal of the Commission. 



The discussion of the mineral resources of the region is more elabo- 

 rate than would be necessary in an ordinary report on botanical 

 resources, but a reasonably full treatment is required in the present 

 case to show the scope and importance of the mining industries of the 

 Coeur d'Alenes, for this industry must be taken into full consideration 

 if any provision is made hereafter for State or Governmental manage- 

 ment of these forests. 



The discussion of the climate, also, is given in considerable detail, as 

 in case of a future selection of any portion of this region for timber 

 reservations all possible knowledge of its climatic conditions will be 

 valuable. 



The report shows that the region is one of extremely heavy rainfall 

 compared with that of other localities so far from the Pacitic coast, and 

 that in consequence of this rainfall a heavy growth of timber covers 

 most of the region. The agriculture of the country amounts to almost 

 nothing except in some of the lower valleys, and even there it is chiefly 

 confined to grazing. The principal industries are mining and lumber- 

 ing, and it is in relation to these that the vegetation of the region, from 

 an economic standpoint, must be considered. In the future, however, 



