THE BEETLE PEST IN THE BLACK HILLS 



FOREST RESERVE. 



AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF VALUABLE TIMBER DESTROYED 

 METHODS TO PREVENT FURTHER DESTRUCTION. 



BY 



FILIBERT ROTH, 



CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF FOREST RESERVES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 



AS is well known, the Black Hills 

 forest forms an elevated forest 

 i.sland in the midst of the Great Plains. 

 Its value, therefore, is very great, even 

 if viewed merely from the standpoint of 

 timber supply, and this is materially in- 

 creased by the presence of large and 

 valuable mining interests within the 

 forest itself. 



At present these mining districts form 

 the principal market for the timber of 

 this reserve ; shipment to other parts of 

 South Dakota(in which state nearly all of 

 the reserve is located) are too roundabout 

 to permit of profitable exploitation, and 

 shipment be3'ond the state is prohibited 

 b}^ law. The reserve has an area of 

 alDout 1,200,000 acres, and is more hill 

 than mountain land. The forest is com- 

 posed almost entirely of Western Yellow 

 or Bull Pine i^Pimis ponderosa) , with 

 patches of .spruce in particular localities. 

 Rough estimates place the total 

 amount of standing timber at from 

 2,500,000,000 to 4,000,000,000 feet. 

 Prof. H. S. Graves, in his report of 

 1897, places the total amount of mate- 

 rial at 1,442,000,000 feet of saw timber 

 and 13,150,000 cords of other material, 

 apparentl}' making about 5,000,000,000 

 feet of timber better than fuel and about 

 6, 000, oco cords of fuel material. 



The present annual consumption is 

 estimated at about 20,000,000 feet of 

 timber, but probably exceeds this 

 amount. However, the excellent re- 

 production and growth of the pine in 

 nearly all parts of the forest would 

 j ustif y even an increase in the exploita- 

 tion and use of the material under ordi- 

 nary or normal conditions. 



These conditions, however, have been 



materially disturbed. For about ten 

 years a destructive bark beetle has 

 steadily increased its field of activity, 

 and toda}' the amount of material killed 

 or infested by this insect is believed to 

 be from 10 to 20 per cent of the total 



Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



PINE TREE FRESHLY ATTACKED BY BEETLES, 

 SHOWING PITCH TUBES. 



.stand, or, according to different esti- 

 mates, about 200,000,000 to 600,000,000 

 feet of timber, besides a large amount 

 of fuel material. ---"- 



Owing to the fact that the damage 

 occurs in isolated patches of ver}^ varia- 



(45S) 



