DEVELOPMENT OF PULPWOOD RESOURCES. 7 



much of the coast line the hills and mountains rise abruptly 5 and the dense 

 forest growth, extending down to the level of high tide, overhangs the steep 

 banks. The islands are separated by an intricate system of waterways and 

 fiords, known locally as straits, canals, channels, passages, sounds, narrows, 

 inlets, bays, coves, and arms, some of which reach far inland. Many of these 

 waterways are very deep and can be safely navigated by the largest ocean 

 steamers, but some are so shallow as to be navigable only at high tide by boats 

 of moderate draft. The coast and entrances to harbors are rocky and in places 

 the greatest care is necessary in order to avoid rocks that are barely submerged. 

 The topography is so rough that only in favored localities or at great expense 

 can wagon or tram roads be constructed. The waterways are, therefore, of 

 great value in affording routes of communication between different portions of 

 the region and between this region and the Pacific coast ports of the United 

 States. Indeed, were it not for water transportation the mining and quarrying 

 industries in southeastern Alaska could scarcely have been developed. 



The rock surface is in general thickly overgrown with small to medium-sized 

 timber and dense underbrush and has a soil cover of decayed wood, moss, and 

 mold, from a few inches to 3 or 4 feet thick as a rule, but thicker in hollows 

 and crevices in the rock. 



CLIMATE OF THE REGION. / 



Accurate climatic data for the region, based on observations taken 

 at all the larger towns, are available from the records of the Weather 

 Bureau. It must be remembered that these data were taken near 

 tidewater, and that the annual precipitation of a given catchment 

 basin which includes country in the higher altitudes can not be as- 

 sumed to be the same as at sea level. In this respect the data will 

 be found lacking. 



The dense forests bordering the shore line of southeastern Alaska 

 are the result of the moist, humid climate. The records show that 

 the annual rainfall ranges between 80 and 130 inches. Three-quar- 

 ters of the precipitation occurs from March to November. In the 

 high altitudes the winter precipitation is largely in the form of snow, 

 and in consequence the winter run-off is much less than that of the 

 rainy season. 



There is a difference of only 2° in mean annual temperature be- 

 tween Puget Sound and Sitka. The mean temperature for January 

 is 33° and for August 56°, an annual range of only 23° at Sitka. At 

 Juneau, on the mainland, there is less oceanic influence, and the mean 

 annual temperature is lower, the difference being more marked in 

 winter than in summer. The harbors of southeastern Alaska are ice- 

 free the year round, and the water is warm enough to favor the 

 marine teredo, which is very active in salt water in southeastern 

 Alaska, so much so that piles designed to be permanent must be coated 

 with protective covering of cement or otherwise protected. 



5 Reaching a maximum elevation varying from 4,000 feet in the southern part to 7,000 

 feet in the northern. 



