194 Forestry Quarterly. 



Three forest types are included in the burn, the Lower Slope, 

 Upper Slope and Alpine. The Lower Slope type embraces 

 15,360 acres of the whole, and the Upper Slope practically all 

 of the remainder, for the Alpine type is confined to a few rocky 

 mountain crests so small in extent, that they may be left out of 

 consideration. 



The burn included in this type was very heav-" 



The Lower ily timbered before the fire. The stand in the 



Slope Type valley would have averaged close to a 100,000 

 B. F. At present the surface is thickly covered 

 with fallen trees, bark and debris. The bottom land is largely 

 shaded by black-berry briars, growing over the debris and by 

 soft and vine maple, elderberry and along the river banks by 

 Cottonwood and willow. There are small scattered areas over 

 the bottom which are restocked by dense stands of Douglas fir 

 and western hemlock seedlings and there is more or less re- 

 production throughout the whole lower slope type, although it 

 is not dense enough at present to produce a satisfactory stand of 

 timber. The factors which determine the occurrence of the dense 

 patches of seedlings are the presence of seed trees and the con- 

 dition of the surface. On the best soils in the valley there is 

 generally the least reproduction, for although there may be seed 

 trees present the land was quickly overgrown by vine maple which 

 has so completely shaded the ground as to choke out all the seed- 

 lings. On poorer soil the underbrush is not so dense and, where- 

 ever the ground is covered by debris, seedlings have become es- 

 tablished. The amount and variety depend upon the proximity 

 and kind of seed trees. On account of the thick bark of the 

 mature Douglas fir more large trees of this species survived than 

 either hemlock or cedar. For this reason and because until re- 

 cent years the seed bed has been favorable to its reproduction the 

 Douglas fir is the predominant species in the young growth. 

 But each year more dead trees, bark and branches are falling and 

 covering up the mineral soil and the conditions become less favor- 

 able for reforestation, particularly by Douglas fir. As the debris 

 and logs decay the advantage is given to hemlock for it will ger- 

 minate in vegetable matter and endure more shade than fir. It 

 is desirable to secure conditions which will result in reforestation 

 by Douglas fir. This can best be done by the use of fire. 



Another fire in the burn would increase the area of the seed 



