The Torester. 



Vol. VII. 



JUNE, 1 901. 



No. 6. 



TEXAS FORESTS AND THE PROBLEM OF FOREST MAN- 

 AGEMENT FOR THE LONGLEAF PINE LANDS. 



By William L. Bray. 

 University of Texas. 



THE peculiar relation of the Texas 

 region to the distribution of rainfall 

 and humidity gives special signifi- 

 cance to the question of forest resources. 

 Texas lies across the zone of transition 

 from the Gulf type of rainfall (exceed- 

 ing 40 inches annually) to the Great 

 Plains type (under 20 inches annually), 

 the Mexican type (of low annual precipi- 

 tation with maximum in September) and 

 even extends so far west as to bring the 

 western boundary within the Pacific zone 

 of climatic influence with a meagre rain- 

 fall of less than 10 inches, and a relative 

 humidity represented by an evaporation 

 capacity of So inches annually. 



These extremes of moisture conditions, 

 together with geological structure and 

 physiography, determine in general the 

 presence or absence of forested areas, and 

 in particular the type of forest prevailing 

 upon a given timbered area. Of course, 

 a great portion of the State's area is tree- 

 less, and even a larger portion possesses a 

 dwarf woody vegetation for example, the 

 Rio Grande Chaparral of more than 

 doubtful value, or a sparse and insufficient 

 tree growth the Mesquite prairies. It is 

 estimated, however, that about 24 per 

 cent, of the State is timber land. This 

 includes several prominent forest types of 

 varying degrees of value commercially or 

 in a protective way. The timber areas 



areas follows (Fig. 2): (1) The East 

 Texas region, known as the Lignitic belt; 

 (2) The eroded Cretaceous area the Ed- 

 wards Plateau of central Texas ; (3) The 

 highest mountain summits and mountain 

 canons in Trans- Pecos Texas, and (4) The 

 river bottom timber in the prairie and 

 plains areas of central and western Texa^. 



By far the most important of these areas 

 is that of the East Texas Lignitic Belt, and 

 here lies at present the more urgent need 

 of conservative forestry. In dismissing 

 the remaining areas from the present dis- 

 cussion, it should be stated that while none 

 are of commercial significance more than 

 locally, the timber of the erosion or hill 

 country of the Edwards Plateau is of great 

 value in a protective way ; namely, in its 

 relation to water supply and to preventing 

 soil erosion and destructive floods to which 

 the region is subject 



This will give rise to one of the chi 

 forest problems of the future. The Easl 

 Texas forests are a part of the great 

 forest area of the Atlantic Coast Plain, 

 which, entering the East Texas region in 

 typical luxuriance, comes presently into a 

 region of reduced rainfall and unfavorable 

 (for forests) geological structure and so 

 terminates, except for the outlying Cross 

 Timbers and an area which extends to- 

 wards the Rio Grande beyond the Colo- 

 rado River (Fig. 2). 



