422 APPENDIX 



APPENDIX E 

 TYPICAL REFORESTATION AREAS IN THE MOUNTAINS 



Alps Region (Department of Haute-Savoie, Arc Superieur Forestation Area.) — The 

 valley of the Arc (which corresponds to the ancient province of Maurienne) has a length 

 of 79 miles from the Girard Pass to the Royal Bridge. It divides into two parts : the High 

 Maurienne from the source of the Arc to St. Jean de Maurienne, and from the Lower 

 Maurienne to the St. Jean at Isere. The average slope is 2.7 per cent . . . the 

 higher part of the valley of the Arc extends to Modane on the Italian frontier, from 

 the summit of Gin, 11,529 feet, to Thabon, 10,517 feet. . . . The Arc is fed by 

 the waters of vast and numerous glaciers which occupy an area of more than 9,884 

 acres. Important secondary valleys bring to it the waters of other glacial groups. 

 These are, on the left, the valleys of Avarole and of Ribon, and, on the right, the 

 valley of Doron de Termignon. . . . 



Geological Conditions. — The high Maurienne is almost entirely included in the 

 Brian^-onnais and Preniont zones. The axis of the zone of Briangonnais is formed by 

 carboniferous soil which extends from Modane to Saint-Michel. . . . The glacial 

 deposits and drifts are of common occurrence on the slopes and help feed the torrents 

 with material. 



Climate. — The climate of the Arc Valley is very much like that of the Haute-Alpes. 

 It is the continental climate rendered severe by the enclosure of the valleys and by the 

 high altitudes. The rainfall, however, is less frequent and less abundant than in the 

 rest of the department. . . . During the winter of 1903-1904 the average snow- 

 fall recorded was from 3.6 feet at St. Jean de Maurienne, 2,195 feet altitude, to a maxi- 

 mum of 12.6 feet at St. Jean d'Arves, 4,908 feet altitude. The number of days of rain- 

 fall and the amount of rainfall diminishes as you proceed from the Iscre toward Modane 

 which has quite a dry climate. This dry chmate is due to the absence of mists and fogs. 

 In the autumn fog rarely passes Chamberg. Moreover, the intensity of the light is 

 more considerable in the Maurienne than in the rest of Savoie. . . . 



Production. — Vineyards extend to an altitude of about 3,280 feet in the western 

 part of the region. . . . From Modane to Belleval the dominant crop is almost 

 exclusively rye. At Modane rye fields are found between 3,280 to 4,590 feet and at 

 Bramnas they reach 4,920 to 5,250 feet. ... In the valley of the Averole certain 

 fields extend up to 6,560 feet. . . . The high pasturage is grazed by sheep. . . . 

 The forests under State control in the Haute- Maurienne have an area of 27,230 acres. 

 The larch, the cembric pine, and the spruce occupy the best soils, the mountain pine 

 and Scotch pine being found on the gypsums and the hot slopes. The fir, the beech, 

 and the elm are in mixture with the other species on the better soils. 



Administrative Situation, Area, Population. — The basin of the Arc Superieur 

 includes 26 communes of the District of St. Jean de Maurienne and a portion of the 

 communes of Albiez-le-Jeune and Saint-Jean. The total area is 308,216 acres, some 

 of the communes being the biggest in the department. The population includes 23,980 

 inhabitants. 



State of Soil Erosion. — Little or no grass, arid, steep slopes, burned by the sun, cut 

 by ravines and torrents — such is the aspect of the Haute-Maurienne entirely on the 

 right side of the Arc. The erosion, once started in the mountains, increases from day 

 to day and includes bordering surface soil in good condition. This erosion is due 

 to the nature of the ground, to the steepness of the slopes, and to the small area of the 

 forest cover (10 per cent of the basin area), to the excessive grazing and to too abundant 

 irrigation. Because of this situation avalanches slide without hinderance and continue 



