88 ABSAROKA DIVISION OF YELLOWSTONE FOREST RESERVE. 



growth. Small tarns and ponds form heads to various creeks, and the region is of 

 importance by reason of these natural reservoirs. 



Clamfication of lands in T. 7 8., M. 15 E. 



Acres. 



Forested None. 



jSTonf orested 23, 040 



Bare rocks and alpine 20, 000 



Lakelets, tarns, and streams 3, 040 



Township 7 South, Range 16 East. 



Topography. — This township is in a high, mostly alpine region — a mass of crags, 

 precipices and pinnacled ridges, which, in the northwest corner of the township, 

 culminate in peaks rising to elevations of 12,500 feet. Winding among the steep, 

 rocky spurs lie deep, cliff-lined canyons littered with talus and morainic debris, 

 which here and there dams the streams and causes them to spread out and form 

 lakes of considerable size. 



Mining. — None. 



Soil. — The soil is sterile and rocky. A large proportion of the tract has no soil 

 cover. 



Agricultural adaptability. — There is no tillable land in the township. 



Grazing cupacity. — The summits of the ridges bear, hear and there, thin swards 

 of alpine sedges and grasses and some of the larger lakes have wet glades fringing 

 them. None of them are accessible to stock. 



Drainage conditions. — There is a large and continuous outflow, all by way of 

 West Rosebud Creek. The township constitutes a great natural reservoir to this 

 stream, and as such is of importance notwithstanding its rough and rocky character. 



Snow and rock slides. — Frequent throughout. 



Towns and settlements. — No part of the township is inhabited. 



Forest conditions. — Most of the township lies above timber line, and the forest 

 is confined to the lower slopes and the bottoms of a few canyons in the northern 

 portion. The stands are composed of lodgepole pine and spruce at the lowest 

 elevations, and of the subalpine type of forest at the upper. 



Cutting. — None. 



Burns. — Tracts in the northeast corner of the township have been burned over 

 within the past seven or eight years and the timber on 400 acres destroyed. 



Reproduction. — Young growth is not abundant. Lodgepole pine and Engel- 

 mann spruce are the leading species in the restockage. The burned-over tracts are 

 not reforesting. 



Undergrowth. — ^Low shrubs, of huckleberry, wild raspberry, gooseberry, etc. 



Litter. — In the lodgepole-pine stands and on the burned-over are&,s litter of 



