398 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Early uncontrolled fires did much damage, especially in portions of 

 Wyoming and Colorado. In the pine regions, restocking has taken 

 place. In the spruce type, the devastation caused by some of the 

 early fires has been so complete that after 50 or more years a forest 

 cover is still lacking on many of the burned areas. 



Overgrazing probably has caused greater change in the cover con- 

 ditions of the upper Missouri than any other factor. Large herds, 

 especially in the woodland areas, have so depleted the forest ranges 

 that only a scanty ground cover is found where formerly a more or 

 less complete carpet occurred. Overgrazing still continues in many 

 places. 



Timber cutting, particularly about mining and agricultural settle- 

 ments, has often been most severe in those places where conditions 

 were least favorable for regrowth. As a result, the forest cover on 

 some areas has been badly depleted. 



In a few localities where smelters have operated, such as at Butte, 

 Mont., the cover on nearby slopes has largely been destroyed by 

 fumes. In such places the top soil has washed away, leaving an 

 erosion pavement of rock fragments on the surface. 



OWNERSHIP OF FOREST LANDS 



Private forest lands play a very small part in the water or soil 

 conditions of the upper Missouri Basin. They are mostly in small 

 units, scattered throughout the forested region, more of them in the 

 Badlands than elsewhere. Intermingled with the national forest 

 lands, as many of them are, they receive protection from fire. Few 

 are so accessibly located as to be merchantable and consequently 

 their condition is for the most part about the same as that of the 

 national forests. Where cutting has taken place it usually is too 

 heavy, and where grazed, overgrazing is common. Those in the 

 Badlands have suffered particularly from overgrazing. There is 

 a small area of State or other local public lands in the upper basin. 

 Much of this area is in need of better care. The much larger area of 

 public lands is in Federal ownership or control. These are included 

 in the national forests, nation parks, Indian lands, and public domain. 



NATIONAL FORESTS 



Of the public lands, the national forests are the most important 

 because of the area of approximately 9 million acres involved, and 

 because of their location at the very headwaters of the river. All 

 forms of use, such as cutting and grazing, are so handled that the 

 watershed cover is maintained in an effective condition. On some 

 of the national forests, where serious overgrazing took place before the 

 areas were put under administration, watershed conditions are not yet 

 entirely satisfactory, but the cover is gradually improving under 

 regulated use. 



Fire is not a serious factor. In occasional bad fire years control is 

 difficult, but with the extension of transportation improvement and 

 with more and better equipment there is much less danger of disaster 

 than formerly. 



On the whole, the watershed conditions on the national forests are 

 satisfactory and are steadily becoming better. 



