Che Conifers of Wancouver Fsland 
FRED K. BUTTERS 
One of the most natural phytogeographical 
regions of North America is the great coniferous 
forest which extends along the Pacific Ocean 
from central California to Kadiak Island. in the 
Gulf of Alaska. The equable climate and heavy 
rainfall of this region have developed here the 
densest and most luxuriant forest to be found 
outside of the tropics. 
To the east are continuous high mountain 
ranges which seldom stand more than one hun- 
dred and fifty miles from the sea, and are often 
much nearer. East of the mountains semi-arid 
conditions prevail except where other high moun- 
tains cause a local increase in the precipitation, 
as in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, 
the ranges cf northeastern Washington, northern 
Idaho and western Montana, and the Sierra 
Nevada of California. 
As Vancouver Island occupies a somewhat 
central position in this great Pacific forest, and 
as the climate and topography of this island is 
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