TOWNSHIP DESCKIPTIONS. 43 



I 



Mining. — None. 



Soil. — Stony and gravelly glacial debris, with thin top-dressings of loam. 



Agricultural adaptability. — None; the mountainous and elevated character of 

 the region makes agriculture an impossibilitj'. 



Grazing capacity. — A number of wet meadows and glades in the West Boulder 

 Canyon are adapted to grazing purposes. The summit of West Boulder Plateau is " 

 •covered with alpine sedges and grass and can be pastured, although access is difficult. 



Drainage conditions. — The tract has a large outflow. Springs, marshy tracts, 

 rivulets, and creeks are numerous. Small ponds occur here and there. A large 

 quantity of the outflow sinks in the talus slopes and glacial litter that lie in the 

 valley of the West Boulder, and does not reappear either in the township or outside. 



Towns and settlements. — The township contains no settlements. 



Forest conditions. — The eastern areas carry no forest on the summit of West 

 Boulder Plateau and only a thin subalpine growth along the upper line of breaks. In 

 the valley the stands are composed of thickset lodgepole pine, with spruce and red 

 fir, the latter reaching a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 3 feet. The stands 

 in the extreme northeast corner consist chiefl}' of 25 to 30 years old lodgepole 

 pine. The western areas of the township are in pait situated above timber line, and 

 in part bear thi&, scattering stands of subalpine species. The bottoms of the West 

 Boulder are not difficult of access and much of the timber standing there can be 

 floated down the stream during high water. The timber on the higher slopes can 

 not readily be reached. 



Cidtiny. — In the West Boulder Valley, near the north line of the township, the 

 timber on 1,800 acres was culled 60 per cent \)y tie cutters in 1882-83. 



Burns. — Severe burns visited portions of the tract in 1882-83 and at intervals 

 since that time. The burns are confined chiefly to the northern portion of the 

 township, where they occur on the slopes of West Boulder Plateau, near the outlet 

 ■of Davis Creek and along the west bank of Boulder River. 



Reproduction. — There is as yet no restocking of the burned-over areas near 

 Davis Creek nor on the higher slopes of West Boulder Plateau. Elsewhere in the 

 township sapling growth is exceedingl}^ abundant outside the subalpine areas, 

 lodgepole pine everywhere replacing the burned red fir. Large tracts of the 

 burns have restocked with close-set stands of aspen, which here and there is giving 

 way to lodgepole pine. 



Undergrowth. — Abundant throughout, except at subalpine elevations. 



Litter. — Abundant almost everywhere. On the burned-over areas the litter 

 is enormous in quantitjr: The fire ran through exceedingly close-set lodgepole pine 

 stands without consuming the trees, merely killing them, and the dead timber, now 

 ialling, forms almost impenetrable masses of woody debris. 



