NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



537 



River, Pathfinder Bird Reservation was 

 located here, favorable to nesting and mi- 

 gratory birds. Should be re-established. 



Principal stations accessible on C. & 

 N. W. R. R. are CasperJ, Powder River||, 

 ShoshoniJ, and Rivertonf. RawlinsJ 

 on U. P. R. R., 22 mi. S. Auto roads 

 traverse in part, Casper to Riverton, 

 Rawlins to Casper, Rawlins to Riverton; 

 (a) and (h), camp outfit necessary for 

 remote regions. Fremont, Natrona, 

 Carbon and Sweetwater counties, Wyo. 



*Big Horn Hot Springs State Preserve. 

 (B3; B4.) 640 acres. Located just 

 east and adjoining the town of Thermop- 

 olis and includes the Big Horn Hot 

 Springs. Under complete control of the 

 State Board of Charities and Reforms. 

 Free bath house and free camping 

 grounds maintained by the state on the 

 Preserve. A part of the water is leased 

 or rented to private bath houses. Good 

 hotels, apartment houses, amusement 

 parks, swimming pools, tennis courts, 

 and dance pavilions are on the grounds. 

 Tourists find this an almost ideal stop- 

 ping point on the Yellowstone Highway. 

 The town of (w) Thermopolisf also main- 

 tains a free camping site. For further 

 information address Superintendent, Big 

 Horn Hot Springs Preserve, Hot Springs, 

 County, Wyo. 



* Saratoga Hot Springs Preserve. (B4; 

 C3.) 420 acres, more or less. A tract 

 containing hot medicinal and mineral 

 springs recently purchased by the State 

 of Wyoming and "forever set aside for 

 the treatment and care of diseases and 

 for sanitary, charitable, and such other 

 purposes as shall be from time to time 

 determined by the Board" (of Charities 

 and Reforms). 



Near (w) Saratoga!, located on the 

 Saratoga and Encampment R. R., 

 Carbon County, Wyo. 



Elk Refuge. An area of 2760 acres in 

 Teton Co. Protects elk in winter, ducks 

 and sage grouse. Established 1915. 



Flat Creek Refuge. An area of 40 

 acres established in 1922 for protection 

 of waterfowl. 



Five additional State Refuges have 

 been created in recent years. 



6. MONTANA 

 ByM. J. ELROD 



I. GENERAL CONDITIONS 



The state of Montana includes ap- 

 proximately 147,000 sq. mi. It may be 

 divided into three general regions; the 

 western or mountainous area; the east- 

 ern or plains area, continuous with the 

 Dakotas; and the central and much 

 broken section, containing many small 

 mountain ranges, connecting the plains 

 region with the main range of the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



The western part, approximately one- 

 third of the 'area, contains the most of 

 the forested portion. The eastern part 

 is prairie, except for narrow belts along 

 the water courses, and occasional small 

 areas of scattered coniferous trees in 

 the highlands. No hardwoods occur 

 except a few scattered scrub oak (Quer- 

 cus macrocarpa) along the Missouri 

 near the Dakota line. Small ash trees 

 occur quite generally along the streams 

 flowing toward the tributaries of the 

 Missouri. The extensive forests are 

 coniferous, with occasional stands of 

 cottonwood, aspen and alder. 



The higher summits are in the section 

 adjacent to the Yellowstone National 

 Park. A few summits northward rise 

 slightly above 10,000 ft.; many reach 

 9000, and hundreds rise 8000 ft. Snow 

 banks and glaciers continue from year 

 to year in the higher ranges throughout 

 the state. Glacier National Park con- 

 tains the largest number in a rather 

 limited area, many of comparatively 

 easy access. Summits are numerous 

 but generally of small extent. There 

 are exposed, treeless, and generally dry 

 and comparatively lifeless mountain 

 faces and broken talus, slopes. 



Included in the state's large area are 

 rivers and creeks both turbulent in the 

 west and slower and muddy in the east. 

 There are few lakes on the plains area, 

 Medicine Lake in the extreme northeast 

 is little but a marsh. Bowdoin lake in 

 Phillips county in the north section is a 

 shallow depression in the plain. Flat- 



