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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Althongli a large number of species make up the forests of the 

 reservations, they are for the most part composed of pines and other 

 conifers, with the yellow pine and red fir a long way in the lead in 

 commercial importance. The former of these two species is found in 

 every one of the thirty-nine reservations, with the exception of the 

 x\pognak Eeservation, in Alaska, and in many of them forms the major 

 part of the forest, while the latter has nearly as wide a distribution. 



In the Washington reservation pure stands of red fir may be classed 

 among the finest forests in the world. Not infrequently single trees 

 reach a height of from 250 to 300 feet, and contain 35,000 feet (B.M.) 

 of merchantable lumber. The trees stand close together, their long, 

 straight boles shooting upward like so many shafts from the dimly- 

 lighted bed of moss and ferns forming the floor of the forest. This 



OuE Resekvations must be protected from Fire, so far as an Efficient Forest 

 Service can protect them. Olympic Reservation, Washington. 



same tree, of a more stunted and shorter growth, forms a considerable 

 part of the forests of the more southern reservations, even growing in 

 the forests of Arizona. Here, however, the forest is open and the 

 drooping limbs cover the boles nearly to the ground, rendering them 

 of .little value for commercial purposes, but of vast importance in 

 shading the ground and thus aiding in the conservation of moisture. 



No greater mistake can be made than to consider the timber supply 

 of the reservations as confined to the mature trees that we find growing 

 there at the present time. We should look into the future and ask 

 what are these 46,800,000 acres of reserved lands capable of producing 

 as an annual increment when properly protected and managed. What 

 kind of forests are they capable of producing in the future, long after 

 the trees now living shall have been harvested or have gone to decay? 



