58 SURVEYS OF FOREST RESERVES. 



almost inevitably to set fire to the forest. Prospectors are undoubtedly 

 responsible for much of the damage from this cause, but the greater fires 

 date from before the period of their arrival. The Indian trails which 

 cross these regions are marked by widespread burns on either hand, 

 and the old date of the damage leaves no doubt as to where the respon- 

 sibility should lie. It is said thab lightning is responsible for a few fires, 

 and there is good reason to believe that it is so. 



MINING, WESTERN SLOPE. 



Mining on the western slope of the Bitterroot Eeserve is so far 

 wholly restricted to the prospecting stage, and few finds of importance 

 have been made, except near Elk City. Placer mining has been fol- 

 lowed in that vicinity to some extent, but most of the available ground 

 has been worked out and the region is being abandoned. Near Shoup, 

 a mining settlement of perhaps a dozen cabins on the Salmon Eiver, a 

 little mining is carried on, but so far without conspicuous result. The 

 known mineral belt lies wholly to the south of the IsTez Perce Pass. 



AGKICULTUKB, WESTERN SLOPE. 



There are no agricultural possibilities of any consequences, and no 

 special provisions are required in this direction. 



GRAZING, WESTERN SLOPE. 



The grassy tracts near the summit of the divide in the southeastern 

 portion of the western slope would. furnish pasture for considerable 

 numbers of domestic animals if they were more accessible. As it is, 

 the difficulty of reaching them and the urgent need for the reforesta- 

 tion of these denuded mountains make it unwise to encourage their use 

 for other than forest purposes. So far as I am informed no domestic 

 animals are at present pastured upon them. In the vicinity of Elk 

 City rich alluvial meadows of considerable extent have been occupied 

 by individuals or companies for slock raising, and provisions should be 

 made to continue their use in this direction. 



FOREST MANAGE ENT. 



A very careful study of the forests on the eastern slope of the Bitter- 

 root Eeserve should be undertaken without delay. While the greater 

 part of the timber land available for the supply of the Anaconda Cop- 

 per Mining Company lies outside of the borders of the reserve, it is 

 evident that a demand upon the forests of the reserve will shortly be 

 made to supply deficiencies created by cutting elsewhere. Before that 

 time arrives a thorough knowledge of the sylvicultural conditions which 

 determine the reproduction of the yellow pine and Douglas fir should 

 be obtained, and a careful working plan should be drawn up to govern 

 the cutting of these trees. This matter is of very great importance. 

 Here and in the Black Hills Eeserve great mining corporations come 

 directly in contact with forest reserves, and the adjustment between 

 them involves many delicate questions. If is strongly recommended 

 that a further study of the eastern slope of the Bitterroot Eeserve be 

 undertaken without delay. 



The timber cut on the western slope of the reserve, and not used in 

 its immediate neighborhood for the development of the region, must 

 find its only possible outlet to the west, where it will come into compe- 



