TOWNSHIP DESCRIPTIONS. Ill 



Composition of forest in T. 9 8., R. 10 E., including trees of all spedes im'th basal diameters of 3 inches 



and upward. 



Per cent. 



Lodgepole pine 25 



White-bark pine 1,5 



Kedfir 65 



Subalpine fir 2 



Engelmann spruce 6 



Aspen and cotton wood 5 



Township 9 South, Range 11 East. 



Topogyaphy. — The portion of the township within the forest reserve comprises 

 15,360 acres, the two southern tiers of sections being situated within the Yellowstone 

 National Park. The eastern areas of the township consist 5f terraced breaks and 

 slopes leading into the valley of Buffalo Creek. The central portions comprise tracts 

 situated on the summit of Buffalo Plateau — a narrow, undulating table-land intersected 

 with numerous low combs and ridges of rock and dotted by lakelets and tarns. The 

 western portion is formed by terraces and slopes leading from the summit of Buffalo 

 Plateau into Hell Roaring Canyon, sharp, precipitous breaks marking the last descent 

 to the bottom of that valley. The altitudinal range varies from 7,200 to 9,500 feet. 



Mining. — None. 



Soil. — Gravelly loam, stony, with much bowlder drift throughout. 



Agricultural adaptability/. — None of the lands in the township are tillable, being 

 too stony and at too high altitude for agricultural purposes. 



Gt'asi?ig capacity. — The grazing lands of the township comprise 4,000 acres and 

 consist of grassy glades, in part swampy, in Buffalo Canyon and on its terraced western 

 slopes, of level and ^rolling grass- and sedge-covered summits of the plateau area, 

 and of fire glades, scantily reforesting, on the western slope of the plateau. The 

 grazing areas have been moderately sheeped in the past, but were not used by any 

 kind of stock in the summer of 1903. 



Drainage conditions. — The run-off is large. The township is a sort of natural 

 reservoir to the lower portions of Hell Roaring and Buffalo creeks. Pools, ponds, 

 marshy tracts, springs, and rivulets abound throughout its area. The summit of 

 Buffalo Plateau is remarkably well supplied with springs and ponds. 



Snow and Tock slides. — Apparently not frequent. 



Totons and settlements. — None. 



Forest conditions. — Most of the stands in the township consist of old growths, 

 100 to 160 j'ears old. The eastern areas are forested with close-set stands of lodge- 

 pole pine, pure or mixed with spruce, or occasionally, at the lower elevations, with 

 red fir. The forest on the summit of Buffalo Plateau is chiefly of the subalpine 

 type — white-bark pine, Engelmann spruce, and subalpine fir, the spruce predominat- 

 ing. It occurs in thin lines and scattered groups with tracts of grassy glades or 



