1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



333 



flows northeast, then east, draining the 

 western and northern portions of the 

 Black Hills. This project involves the 

 reclamation of the lands to the north- 

 east of the Black Hills, in Butte and 

 Meade counties, South Dakota, by the 

 diversion of the waters of the Belle 

 Fourche and Red Water rivers into 

 basins east of the town of Belle Fourche. 

 These basins are to be converted into 

 storage reservoirs by the construction of 

 embankments of earth, riprapped with 

 rock, across the outlets. 



The reservoirs will be filled by a large 

 feeder canal from the river, 6 miles long, 

 40 feet wide on the bottom, and carry- 

 ing 10 feet of water. This supply will 

 be augmented by water from Crow, Owl, 

 Indian, Horse, and Willow creeks, which 

 have large flood flow during certain pe- 

 riods. From these reservoirs the water 

 will be distributed to lands in the valley 

 on both sides of the Belle Fourche River, 

 where between 60,000 and 100,000 acres 

 of land maybe reclaimed, depending on 

 the water supply obtainable, the records 

 not being sufficiently near completion to 

 fix the amount at the present time. 



In April a field force made a recon- 

 naissance survey to determine the possi- 

 bility of an increased water supply from 

 the Little Missouri River and the storage 

 of water so obtained. During May, 

 1904, the Secretary of the Interior gave 

 his preliminary approval to the project, 

 and conditionally set aside $2,100,000 



for its construction, if final report is 

 approved by him. The organization of 

 the land-owners under the project has 

 been begun, and will be similar to that 

 of the Salt River Valley Water Users' 

 Association. 



The diversion canal from the Little 

 Missouri River to the Belle Fourche 

 River will be located during the present 

 season, and a reconnaissance made of 

 the headwaters of the Little Missouri 

 and Belle Fourche rivers for any possible 

 storage to impound the excess flood 

 waters and act as an equalizing basin. 

 If a possible site is located surveys will 

 be made. 



In addition to the Belle Fourche Pro- 

 ject, there are a number of other projects 

 in the Black Hills district that are re- 

 ceiving some attention with a view to 

 future reclamation. The most important 

 of these are on Rapid Creek and Little 

 Missouri River, where some preliminary 

 surveys have been made and the water 

 supply is being investigated. This work 

 is being done principally in connection 

 with the work of gaging streams in 

 South Dakota. 



Other reconnaissances and surveys 

 will be taken up as opportunity offers. 

 Numerous gaging stations have been 

 established and maintained on the vari- 

 ous streams, and miscellaneous measure- 

 ments are made whenever opportunity 

 permits on the smaller streams in the 

 district. 



STUDY OF THE RED GUM. 



RAPID GROWTH, OCCUPATION OF SWAMPY LANDS, AND 

 IMMUNITY FROM FIRES ATTRACT ATTENTION TO THIS 

 TREE AS A MEANS OF CONTINUING THE LUMBER SUPPLY. 



RECENT investigations of the Bu- 

 reau of Forestry indicate an impor- 

 tant addition to the present timber re- 

 sources of the country through the better 

 utilization of the red gum. This timber 

 tree is the predominant species on the 

 hardwood bottomlands of all the South- 

 eastern States. In spite of its abundant 

 supply, it has been slow to reach com- 

 mercial importance because of the ex- 

 tent to which it warps and stains in 



reasoning. While hickory, oak, ash, 

 and yellow poplar were cheaply obtain- 

 able, red gum received little attention. 

 The increasing scarcity and rising price 

 of more adaptable trees have forced the 

 gum into a market place of late, and 

 have caused lumbermen to seek, with 

 partial success, such methods of hand- 

 ling it as would obviate the difficulties 

 which have stood in the way of a larger 

 use of the wood. 



