INTRODUCTION. O 



it is possible that the subject will have an important bearing on the 

 irrigation of the plains lying farther to the west, for their natural water 

 supply conies from the Coeur d'Alenes. 



One of the principal practical lessons brought out in the report is 

 the extent to which forest destruction may be carried in the absence of 

 any efficient legal or commercial check. The era of forest fires began 

 in the earlier period of immigration, followed by the destruction inci- 

 dent to the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad and in very 

 recent times by the unparalleled devastation connected with the mining 

 industry. In this connection I may quote the following from Mr. Lei. 

 berg's report: 



The next and last stage in the destruction of the forests, which is still in active 

 operation, came when the great ore deposits in the Coeur d'Alenes were discovered. 

 Thousands of prospectors flocked into the country then, and the forest fires raged 

 in hundreds of localities to clear away the dense growth of timber and shrubs, 

 which very materially interfered with the work of the prospectors seeking the 

 mineral-hearing lodes. As the mines began to develop, fuel and timber Avere needed. 

 The choice parts of the forest were cut into, debris took the place of the green tree, 

 and fire coming later, finished what the ax had spared. In 1884 I passed through 

 the CtEur d'Alenes into Montana. In spite of the many previous fires, there were 

 miles upon miles of primeval forest. In this year (1895) along the same route there 

 was not a single foot that the fire and ax had not run through, and the larger quan- 

 tity had been uselessly and totally destroyed. 



The result of all these sources of forest destruction is expressed in 

 another statement of Mr. Leiberg's, as follows: 



From an intimate knowledge of the Ceeur d'Alenes, obtained during a residence 

 of ten years in the immediate neighborhood, I do not hesitate to affirm that 50 per 

 cent of the accessible merchantable timber of the Ceeur d'Alenes is absolutely 

 destroyed; that of the remainder, 20 per cent has been more or less culled, leaving 

 only 30 per cent in good condition. All this within a period of thirty-four years, 

 and of these, only twelve years represent settlement and development. 



At the end of his report proper on the Cceur d'Alenes Mr. Leiberg 

 outlines a system of timber protection drawn from his experience of 

 the region, of the people, and of the local industries. It is a suggestive 

 circumstance that the system proposed is similar in many respects to 

 that outlined in the Paddock bill, presented to Congress in the year 

 1802, a bill with which Mr. Leiberg was not acquainted at tlie time his 

 report was submitted. If essentially the same system suggests itself 

 on the one hand to students of the general forestry question in the 

 east and on the other hand to a practical observer iu the field, it indi- 

 cates that that system is worth the careful consideration of our law- 

 making bodies. There can be little doubt that a system similar to the 

 one here outlined would be a great step in advance upon the special 

 agent system which the Department of the Interior is now compelled 



by law to follow. 



Frederick V. Coville. 



Botanist. 



