304 Forestry Quarterly 



bered parks will ultimately be restored to forest growth. This 

 reproduction, quite naturally, is most noticeable on the leeward 

 side of the parent trees, good examples of which are shown in 

 two of the pictures. 



However, this is not always the case for on south slopes near 

 the upper limit for Douglas fir, excellent reproduction is advanc- 

 ing down the slope, in a direction at right angles to the prevailing 

 wind. This is due, no doubt, to the seed being carried by water 

 from the melting snow banks above. A good example of this can 

 be seen on the ridges near the head of Brokenback Creek. 



It is impossible to tell to what extent Nature will reforest these 

 old burns, but there are thousands of acres so located with respect 

 to seed trees, that it is reasonable to presume they will sometime 

 be naturally restocked. There are, however, other large areas 

 which cannot be regenerated naturally, either because of the 

 absence of favorably located seed trees or because of the presence 

 of surface conditions adverse to seed germination and develop- 

 ment. The need, however, for restoring the forest cover to these 

 areas is not urgent at the present time, and it is doubtful if there 

 ever will be occasion for reforesting them. These .areas now 

 support a fairly thick vegetative cover, which exerts a beneficial 

 influence in holding back water, and there is therefore little 

 necessity for reforesting them for stream-flow regulation. They 

 now afiford excellent pasturage and the need for retaining them 

 for grazing purposes exceeds that of converting them into forests 

 for the production of lumber. 



Recent Burns — The areas burned over in 1879 are covered 

 with dead trees, many of which have fallen and lie strewn over 

 the ground. The humus which originally covered the ground was 

 consumed by the fire, and on the steeper slopes practically all the 

 soil has since been washed away, leaving a surface composed of 

 a scanty amount of fine soil mixed in between a mass of small 

 pieces of limestone. These steep slopes support here and there 

 a thin and scattered ground cover of grasses (principally Festuca 

 and Koeleria) and weeds (chiefly Chamacnirion, Lupinus, 

 Senecio, Balsamorhiza, and Nacrea) with an occasional patch 

 of sagebrush, Oregon grape, low bush juniper and Shepherdia 

 canadensis. From 15 to 25 per cent of the ground surface is 

 broken by outcrops or displaced boulders of limestone. 



On the more moderate to gentle slopes there is little or no 



