TOWNSHIP DE80EIPTIONS. 123 



Township 9 South, Range 18 East. 



Topography. — This township is included in what is known as Beartooth Plateau, 

 a rolling tract of country, situated mostly at elevations of 10,000 to 11,500 feet, 

 on the east stretching into adjoining township, and on the west breaking off with 

 vast cliffs and precipices to the depths of Rocky Fork Canyon. The summit of 

 the plateau is intersected with combs, ridges of rock, and heaped-up masses of 

 bowlders, while shallow draws, gullies, and ravines break the levels in various 

 directions. 



Mining. — None. 



Soil. — Gravelly loam, with the surface in most localities strewn with bowlder 

 drift. 



Agricultural adaptability. — No portion of the township contains any arable land. 



Grazing capacity. — With the exception of precipitous slopes, mostty confined 

 to the western areas, the entire tract is covered with a close turf or sward of 

 alpine sedges, grasses, and low herbaceous plants of other orders. The tract has 

 heretofore been excessively sheeped, and much of the former grass growth has 

 been eaten out. 



Drainage conditions. — ^The run-off from the tract is comparatively small. 

 There are, however, numerous small springs and points of marshy seepage, with 

 occasionally a group of tarns, while many of the shallow draws hold banks of 

 snow throughout the summer. 



Snow and rock s?i&s. ^Avalanches of snow and rock are not infrequent in 

 the western areas, falling from the summit of the plateau to the bottom of Rocky 

 Fork Canyon. Mud slips, sometimes nearlj'- a half mile in length, exist in many 

 of the shallow draws on the summit of the plateau, and are slowty sliding toward 

 its breaks. 



Towns and settleme)its. — The district is uninhabited. , 



Forest conditions. — The forested areas are small. They dot the plateau in vari- 

 ous directions up to altitudes of 10,000 feet, and line the canyons in the southern por- 

 tions of the township and the bottoms in Rockj?^ Fork Canyon with sparse and thin 

 groups of trees and copses. Most of the forest has a precarious existence, owing 

 to its position at or near timber line. It consists wholly of the subalpine type, 

 chiefly white-bark pine and Engelmann spruce. The trees are low, stunted, and 

 scrubby, and are valuable only for fuel. 



Cutting:- — None. 



Burns. — None. 



Reproduction. — Young growth is sparse, barely suflBcient to insure the continu- 

 ance of the present thin stockage of the stands. 



Undergrowth. — In the timber the underbrush consists of scattered willows. 

 The springy and swampjr areas on the summit of the plateau at alpine elevations 



