township desceiptions. 47 



■ Township 4 South, Range 13 East. 



Topography. — The western and central areas comprise high, subalpine tracts 

 rising to altitudes of 10,000 feet. In the eastern areas the narrow, rocky canyon 

 of the East Boulder cuts through the mountains, which, on the eastern side of the 

 canyon, again rise steeply to subalpine heights. 



Mining. — ^None. 



Soil. — Gravelly loam, mostly stony and strewn with bowlders. 



Agricultural adaptability. — Small tracts, in all 500 acres, situated in the canyon 

 of the East Boulder are tillable. The remainder of the township is too high and 

 rocky for agriculture. 



Grazing capacity. — The township contains no proper grazing lands. Small 

 glades and temporarily deforested burns are used as pasture ground by the few 

 settlers in Boulder Valley. 



Drainage conditions. — The high subalpine areas, from which snow is never absent 

 any great length of time, discharge a large amount of water, most of which runs ofL 

 by way of East Boulder Canyon. The tract as a whole is an important natural 

 reservoir for maintaining the flow in the main Boulder River, the water of which 

 is largely used for irrigation purposes on the agricultural lands adjoining the 

 Yellowstone Valley. 



Sncno and rooh slides. — Frequent in the high areas in the southeast corner of 

 the township. 



Towns and settlements.- — Six settlers live on the agricultural lands in East 

 Boulder Canyon. Outside this area the township is not inhabited. 



Forest conditions. — The lower portions of East Boulder Canyon bear close-set 

 stands of red fir, lodgepole pine, and spruce, one-third of which is sapling growth, 

 representing reforestations after fires which burned a half century ago. The old 

 growth varies from 120 to 175 years of age. The red fir is mostly of the tall, slender 

 ■ tj'pe, fhe spruce of the low-, stocky, limby form. The subalpine species are scattered, 

 some as small copses or thin lines, others in compact stands of larger extent. This 

 township at its lower and middle elevations, and particularly in the East Boulder 

 canvons, has been one of the best stocked townships in the reserve, but owing to fires 

 has lost most of its timber during the last twenty or twenty-five years. 



Cutting. — The cutting has been confined to the lower portions of Boulder 

 Canj^on. Part of the cut has been for local and farm use, part for sawmill purposes. 

 The cut and culled areas aggregate 1,500 acres. 



^i«rw.s. ^Extensive burns have devastated the township, chiefly in the southern 

 and eastern areas, destroying the forest on 5,700 acres. 



Reproduction. — Restocking of the recent burns has not j'et begun. On the 

 older burns a close-set young growth of lodgepole pine is replacing the former 



