122 AB8AE0KA DIVISION OF YELLOWSTONE FOREST RESEEVE. 



Compoaitior of forest in T. 9 S., It. 16 E., including trees of all species idth basal diameters of S inches 



and upward. 



Per cent. 



Lodgepole pine 60 



White-bark pine 2 



Subalpine fir 6 



Engelmann spruce - ^ 32 



Township 9 South, Range 17 East. 



Topography. — The southeast quarter of the township comprises rolling tracts of 

 plateau land — portions of the so-called Beartooth Plateau. The rest of the township 

 consists of mountains 10,000 to 12,000 feet high and of immense rocky and bowlder- 

 littered canyons. The entire region, with the exception of a few areas, is high and 

 alpine in character. 



Mining. — None. 



Soil. — Thin, gravelly, bowlder strewn, except around the margins of tarns and 

 lakelets, where loamy constituents are more or less mixed with the gravelly substrata. 



Agricultural adaptability. — The township contains no arable land. Its altitude 

 would in any event preclude agricultural operations. 



Grazing capacity. — The region is covered with a low growth of alpine sedges or 

 grass wherever any soil cover exists. In past years it has been extensively used for 

 sheep pasture, but, with the exclusion of sheep from the reserve, cattle were the only 

 kind of stock on the tract last year. About one-half shows marks of excessive 

 sheeping in the partial destruction of the grass cover. 



Drainage capacity. — The western and central areas abound in lakelets and tarns, 

 springs, and small marshes, and form important natural reservoirs, in part to Rocky 

 Fork Creek and in part to Clark Fork. ' The northern areas carry snow throughout the 

 summer in many localities, and the total run-off from the tract is large and continuous. 



Snow and rock slides. — Rock and snow slides are of frequent occurrence through- 

 out the northern areas. Mud slips, carrying vast masses of bowlder talus and drift, 

 are common around the higher-lying tarns and on many of the steeper slopes. 



Forest conditions. — The township contains no forested areas. In the southern 

 portions small copses and thin lines of white-bark pine and spruce, with an under- 

 growth of willows, border the tarns, and rivulets. 



Classification of lands in T. 9 S., R. 17 E. 



Acres. 



Forested None. 



Nonf crested 23, 040 



Agricultural None. 



Grazing 15,000 



Bare rocks , , 5, 500 



Lakelets and tarns , 2, 540 



