township desokiptions. 41 



Township 4 South, Range 10 East. 



^■5 



Topography.— This township comprises high, rough mountains rising to eleva- 

 tions of 10,000 feet, abounding with precipices and sharp declivities. The summits 

 are rocky, fissured, and crumbling, and the canyons are narrow and littered with 

 talus accumulations and debris swept down from the mountain sides by avalanches 

 and landslips. Only 21,120 acres of this township are within the reserve, three 

 sections, or 1,920 acres, in the northwest corner being excluded. 



Mining. — None. 



Soil. — All of the soil, except a thin top-dressing of loam, is derived from hard, 

 granitic rocks and is highly siliceous and sterile. It rests on gravel and bowlders. 



Agricultural adaptability. — ^The steep slopes, rocky and sterile soil, aod high 

 altitude render the land unfit for agriculture. 



Grazing capacity. — The township has no grazing value. 



Drainage conditions. — There is a large run -off from the high areas of the town- 

 ship, but most of it is absorbed or sunk in the talus and morainic debris of the 

 lower slopes and valleys, and comparatively little reaches the levels of the Yellow- 

 stone Valley. The waters of the streams flowing from the western areas of the 

 township are used to some extent for irrigation in the Yellowstone Valley. 



Snoyj and roch slides. — Avalanches of snow and rock are of frequent occurrence 

 throughout all the higher areas. 



Towns and settlements. — The township is uninhabited. 



Forest conditions. — The forest consists of thin stands of white-bark pine, Engel- 

 mann spruce, and : ubalpine fir, scattered among the breaks of the slopes and around 

 the heads of the canyons, while in the valley bottoms lodgepole pine, chiefly a 

 sapling growth thirty to forty years old, forms the prevailing timber. Red fir 

 occurs on the lower and warmer slopes of the western areas. Most of the timber is 

 situated in inaccessible places and has only a fuel value. 



Cutting. — Small quantities have been cut in the western areas for farm use in 

 ■ the Yellowstone Valley. 



Biirns. — The burns are confined to the western areas and aggregate 1,800 acres. 



Repr'oduction. — The I'eproductive capacity of the subalpine forest is low. In the 

 lodgepole pine stands at middle and lowest elevations young growth is abundant 

 and vigorous. The burns are restocking chiefly with lodgepole pine in place of 

 the former red fir and spruce. 



Undergrmvth: — Brush growth is moderately abundant except in the subalpine 

 forest, where it is light or lacking. It consists of cherry, juniper, juneberry, Ceano- 

 thus., and huckleberry of several different species. 



Litter. — In the lodgepole-pine stands litter is abundant. It consists of dead and 



