NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



539 



vole (Microtus canescens), and white- 

 tailed jackrabbit. 



III. PRESENT BIOTA 



In the National Forests and Parks 

 (see page 214) much of the timber is as 

 yet untouched, except by fire. Plants 

 and animals here live as they have lived 

 for ages past, scarcely influenced by 

 man, except where sought as game or 

 for sport. 



The pronghorn antelope, grizzly bear, 

 bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and elk, 

 have been driven to the fastnesses of the 

 hills. The antelope is nearly gone, and 

 may be saved only by heroic efforts. 

 The bison, once roaming the plains in 

 millions, is gone. The National Bison 

 range in the west has some 700 head, 

 fenced in a 20,000 acre range. The 

 grizzly bear and bighorn sheep, seen by 

 Lewis and Clark along the Missouri 

 near Dakota, now live a precarious life 

 among the highest and most difficult 

 mountains. Beaver are to be found in 

 localities near the mountains and in 

 the parks. Wolves are confined to the 

 northern woods. The same thing has 

 happened to game birds. Rapid settle- 

 ment along the rivers and water courses 

 has depleted their numbers until "rare" 

 may now be written where formerly 

 "abundant" would be applicable. The 

 sage hen and prairie hen are rare. Their 

 range has been turned by the plow, and 

 flax or grain has replaced the sage. In 

 1900 there were few English sparrows in 

 the state; now they are in nearly every 

 town. Mississippi river fish ascend 

 the Missouri to the Great Falls, and up 

 the Yellowstone to the falls. Above 

 these are only a few landlocked or 

 introduced species. In the Pacific 

 drainage migration is prohibited by 

 falls in Clark Fork river in Idaho near 

 the Montana line. About a dozen 

 landlocked native species remain in 

 the headwaters. 



All of these higher summits support 

 an alpine fauna and flora. On these 

 mountain summits, natural conditions 

 are unaffected by man except where 



sheep and cattle are grazed. Many are 

 in primitive or natural state. 



Precipitation in the state varies 

 exceedingly in different localities, and 

 is, of course, heaviest in the mountains. 

 Here most of the streams have their 

 origin. Little pollution has occurred 

 except in streams below mines and 

 smelters, or as a result of natural wash 

 sediment. The headwaters of the Mis- 

 souri are generally clear and rushing, 

 the lower portion muddy. The same 

 is true -of the Yellowstone which rises 

 in the higher portions of the Yellow- 

 stone National Park. The debris from 

 the mines of Butte and the tailings from 

 the smelter at Anaconda have badly 

 polluted the streams of that section, 

 forming part of the headwaters of 

 Clark Fork. The smelter at East 

 Helena on a tributary of the Missouri, 

 and the one at Great Falls, on the bank 

 of the same river, the coal fields of Belt, 

 Stockett, Roundup, and Red Lodge, all 

 turn more or less undesirable material 

 into the streams. A thin population, 

 with no large cities, makes human 

 pollution of the waters much less than 

 that in most states. In general, waters 

 of the main streams are more or less 

 polluted, while the headwaters in the 

 mountains are quite free. None or few 

 of the waters of the National forests 

 are polluted and one may drink freely 

 from any of the thousands of small 

 streams. 



IV. NATURAL AREAS 



Eighteen National Forests are in- 

 cluded in the state of Montana. In 

 addition to the National Forests and 

 Parks, with their millions of acres and 

 thousand of areas yet in natural con- 

 dition, a number of additional areas 

 have been set apart or will be perma- 

 nently preserved. M. J. E. 



*Glacier National Park. (A2.) This 

 park is located in the northwestern 

 part of Montana, embracing the main 

 range of the Rocky Mountains, from 

 the Canadian line some 45 mi. south and 

 east, including the prairie slopes of the 

 east face and the timbered area of the 



