

FORESTS OF EOCKT MOUNTAINS FOEEST KESEEVE 51 



It is advantageous also to have an agreement with the operator by which his 

 men will be available to fight fires. No remuneration should be allowed when the 

 fire occurs on the area of the sale, or endangers the area directly, but in case the 

 agreement covers assistance in fighting fires not directly connected with the area but 

 within convenient distance, remuneration should be allowed. For fires due to care- 

 lessness of the operator's employees, a provision may be inserted in the contract for 

 uniform damages per acre, e.(]., $10 per acre, which would avoid disputes in appraising 

 damages, which would be a difficult thing to do especially if destruction of young, 

 growth were an important factor. 



The vesting of authority as to supervision of the sale, final settlement of disputes 

 and interpretation of provisions of the contract should be definitely included in the 

 contract. 



The method of payment depends mainly on existing administrative regulations. 

 Other legal provisions not directly affecting the management of the cutting of the 

 timber form a necessary part of the contract. 



SILVICULTFRAL PRACTICE IN MONTANA. 



DEERLODGE NATIONAL FOREST. 



Forest Conditions. 



The Deerlodge National Forest is situated on both sides of the continental divide, 

 and surrounding the Butte copper-mining region. It furnishes annually about six 

 million board feet of timber, of which ninety per cent is lodgepole pine. All the 

 timber is used for mining purposes. Logs with a top diameter of 6 inches or more 

 are used in a round state for props; smaller logs, down to 2 inches in diameter, 

 when straight, can be used for other purposes. There is also a market for cordwood. 

 Under these market conditions, it is possible to require a utilization of all material 

 three inches and over in diameter. The silvicultural effect of this is that where it 

 is desirable to clear-cut an area, the operation can be done thoroughly, because every 

 tree can be cut, and so much material removed from each tree that the brush can 

 readily be burned, leaving the surface entirely cleared. 



The type of forest is, predominantly, pure lodgepole pine. In the creek bottoms 

 are belts of pure spruce, usually not over a fourth of a mile wide. On the upper 

 slopes are mixed stands of lodgepole pine, spruce and limber pine. The mixed and 

 the spruce type resemble the types described by similar names when discussing Cana- 

 dian forests. The pine type differs only in a few minor respects from the same type 

 in the north. It is purer in composition, less even-aged, of lower density and with 

 the trees branchier and more damaged. This may be explained by assuming a different 

 life history. Canadian forests often show evidence of the entire stand having started 

 after a fire, but in mature stands there is seldom evidence ot more than one fire. In 

 Montana, fires seem to have been of greater frequency but less severe. The successive 

 fires have eliminated the spruce, except in the two types mentioned, which owe their 

 distinctive characteristics to comparative freedom from fire. 



The successive fires have also opened up the stand and allowed young trees to 

 start, but, as pine develops with difficulty under such conditions, the density is made 

 lower in comparison with stands developing from the dense, even-aged, young growth 

 that usually follows a single severe fire. This also results in branchier timber, and 

 the fire-scars on the timber which is not killed by the fires combine to make the trees 

 in general much more poorly fitted for lumber than in Canadian stands. 



The condition of the ground surface is radically different in the south. The 

 ground-cover is very thin, consisting usually of about one inch of humus and light 

 litter. The growth of a light carpet of pine grass is common, and this is not found 

 in the north. Thick moss, again, is practically never found on the ground in pine 



