TOWNSHIP DE8CBIPTI0NS. 57 



Composition of forest in T. 6 8., R. 11 E;, including trees of all species with basal diameters of 3 inches 



and upward. 



Per cent. 



Lodgepole pine 60 



White-bark pine 3 



Bed fir 25 



Subalpine fir 7 



Engelmann spruce 5 



Township 5 South, Eange 12 East. 



Topography. — The western and central areas comprise high, rough mountain 

 summits, and spurs varying in elevation from 9,000 to 11,000 feet. The spurs are 

 long lobes or eastward extensions from the so-called West Boulder Plateau in the 

 township adjoining on the west. They are gashed in their fronts by extremely 

 precipitous, narrow, rocky canyons, and where they terminate in the valley of 

 Boulder River present enormous cliflEs and rough, boulder-strewn slopes. The 

 eastern part of the township contains a portion of the valley of Boulder River, a 

 narrow, cliff-bound trough, its eastern declivities consisting of steep talus slopes, its 

 bottoms terraced with morainic gravel and bowlder debris. 



Mining. — Here and there in the valley and lateral canyons of Boulder River 

 small placers were formerly worked. There are prospects on quartz leads in various 

 localities th roughout the township. No active mining is carried on. 



Minerals. — Gold and copper. 



Soil. — Thin, gravelly, and rocky. 



Agricultural adaptability.' — Small tracts in Boulder Valley, in the aggregate 300 

 acres, largely patented placer ground, are tillable and are under cultivation. Out- 

 side this valley none of the lands are tillable, by reason of their rocky character and 

 altitude. 



Grazing capacity. — The grazing lands in the township consist of small glades 

 along Boulder River, fire glades on the rocky slopes fronting this valley, and alpine 

 sedge and grass-covered summits of the high spurs in the western areas, in the 

 aggregate 8,000 acres. Most of the high areas are accessible only for sheep. 



Drainage conditions. — Large volumes of water originate in the high alpine 

 and subalpine regions in the western and central areas and discharge into Boulder 

 River. The eastern areas of the township shed little water. 



Snow and roch slide. — Frequent in all of the western and central areas. 



Towns and settlements. — No towns; five or six farmsteads in Boulder Valley. 



Forest conditions. — The western and much of the central areas are situated 

 above timber line and carry no forest. In the Boulder Valley the timber is 

 mostly scattered over the rocky western slopes; small, compact bodies of red fir, 

 mixed with lodgepole pine, occur here and there where the lateral canyons 



