430 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



September 



Montana Railroad is about ten miles 

 north and the Northern Pacific twenty- 

 five miles south. Topographically, the 

 Crazy Mountains may be divided into 

 two sections, of which the southern is, 

 without doubt, the roughest in the 

 State. Here the streams, enclosed in 

 deep canyons, take their rise in the 

 melting snow of high peaks of slide 

 rock. The northern part is less for- 

 bidding, the ridges being quite gen- 

 erally covered with grass. The moun- 

 tains have a quite different climatic 

 record from the surrounding lowlands. 

 Fresh snow has been seen on the crests 

 of the Crazy Mountains in August. 

 From October to June there may be 

 snow at any time. Snow drifts at the 

 heads of some of the larger creeks, 

 when seen in mid-July, show no signs 

 of ever being completely melted. Rock 

 Creek has even a small glacier at its 

 head. Snow lies at a depth of from 

 3 to 6 feet in winter, and travel is 

 then possible only on skees. In July 

 and August there are frequent thun- 

 der showers in the peaks. 



The forest is typical of the lodgepole 

 pine forest of the Rockies, and that 

 species grows in pure stand over three- 

 tenths of the timbered area. Red fir 

 covers two-tenths in pure stand, and 

 the remaining five-tenths is a mixture 

 of the two species, with the lodgepole 

 pine predominating. In scattered 

 growth there is some limber pine, bal- 

 sam fir, juniper, Engelmann spruce, 

 and the usual cottonwood and willow 

 in the creek bottoms. Of the two main 

 types, the lodgepole pine will average 

 about 4,000 feet, board measure, to 

 the acre, the red fir 6,ooo feet. Lum- 

 bering operations on the reserve are 

 not extensive, and the mills, six in 

 number, not large. Since only the 

 larger trees are taken, lumbering 

 would be beneficial if forest fires did 

 not almost invariably follow. There 

 are no mines of importance, and the 

 timber is used for ties, fuel, and ranch 

 buildings. The greatest importance 

 of the forest, then, is as a protective 

 cover to conserve the heavy snow and 

 rainfall, since the Crazv Mountains 



form a natural water-supply area for 

 a growing and prosperous farming 

 country in the foothill region around 

 them. 



Within the limits of the reserve 

 sheep grazing is the most important 

 industry, the sheepmen being perma- 

 nently established on railroad lands 

 which they have bought. Therefore 

 the sheep-grazing problem is the larg- 

 est one with which the administration 

 of the new reserve will have to deal. 

 Perhaps 100,000 sheep are ranged 

 there, and some 1,200 goats. There 

 are possibly 5,000 cattle and horses on 

 the reserve. Through cooperation 

 with the stock owners, there will be 

 definitely established and thoroughly 

 understood, regulations as to the dura- 

 tion of the grazing season, distribu- 

 tion of stock, and number grazed. 



The sentiment of the region is gen- 

 erally in favor of the reserve because 

 of two things : There will be Govern- 

 ment control of the range, assuring 

 both sheep and cattlemen in well-de- 

 fined rights ; and a prevention of fires. 

 Yet, as a whole, the Crazy Mountains 

 Forest Reserve will serve five princi- 

 pal uses : It will maintain a natural 

 reservoir for the surrounding coun- 

 try, which belongs to the important 

 type of "sub-irrigated land ;" will pre- 

 serve several excellent water-power 

 sites ; will prevent lumbering waste, 

 and insure a permanency to the lum- 

 ber supply ; will equitably settle the 

 grazing problem ; will prevent fires. 



The total area of the new reserve is 

 234,760 acres. 



Timber 

 Testa 



A series of tests to de- 

 termine the relative 

 strength of green tama- 

 rack and green Norway pine timber 

 has recently been made by the Forest 

 Service at the timber testing labora- 

 tory at Purdue University, Lafayette, 

 Ind. The material was furnished by 

 the Kettle River Quarries Company 

 of Minneapolis, and nearly all of it 

 grew in St. Louis County, Minnesota. 

 The strength values obtained apply 

 only approximately to timber of the 

 same species grown elsewhere. 



