FOREST SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES 



I. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 



By J. E. KiRKwooD, Ph. D. 

 Assistant Pbofessor of Botany and Forestbt 



y^^HE University of Montana is at Missoula in the western part of the 

 \/j state. Missoula is on the main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, 

 ^^ and the newly constructed transcontinental line of the Chicago, Milwau- 

 kee and Puget Sound Railroad also passes through the city. Missoula lies 

 at the mouth of the famous Bitter Root Valley and near the main range of 

 the Bitter Root Mountains, which form for the most part the western boundary 

 of the state. Northward as the crow flies is Flathead Lake, 55 miles away, and 

 eastward it is 72 miles to the summit of the continental divide near the head 

 of the Blackfoot River. 



The altitude of Missoula is about 3,200 feet. Its climate is pleasant, not 

 subject to extremes of heat or cold, and its annual rainfall amounts to about 

 18 inches. The location is healthful, and the natural environment attractive 

 in its plains, mountains and forests, its lakes and streams. 



Natural environment is of undoubted importance in the location of a 

 forestry school, and in this respect the University of Montana is well situated. 

 On all sides the hills are clothed with timbei-, some near and others more 

 remote, but good stands of timber are in the immediate vicinity of the univer- 

 sity. A great diversity of condition prevails, which affords opportunity for the 

 study of forest ecology in its various phases. Extensive tracts of young growth 

 show different conditions of reproduction. The timber of the immediate 

 region is mainly western yellow pine and lodgepole pine, western larch and 

 Douglas spruce'. In the region tributary to Missoula, within a radius of 73 

 miles of the city, occur sixteen species of conifers. Besides those mentioned 

 above are the western white pine (P. monticola) and the two subalpine species 

 the white-bark and limber pines. There are also Engelmanu spruce and Lyall's 

 larch, the western and black hemlocks, the lowland and alpine tirs, the arbor 

 vitae, and the Rocky Mountain and common juuii)ers. The western yew also 

 occurs in shrubby form. The hardwoods, so called, are not of much import- 

 ance, the largest and most abundant of these being the black cottonwood and 

 the aspen, sharing the stream bottoms with a smaller growth of choke cherry, 

 hawthornes, birches, alders and willows. 



The timber of western Montana is largely reserved in the national forests. 

 The boundaries of the Missoula, the Lolo, and the Bitter Root National Forests 

 are within a few miles of Missoula, and these and several others including the 

 Deer Lodge, the Flathead and the Lewis and Clark are easily reached by rail 

 or stage. 



The proximity of the national forests is a distinct advantage. Likewise 

 the fact that the main administrative otlices of District No. 1 are in the city 

 of Missoula. These circumstances bring the work of the United States Forest 



