SURVEYS OF FOREST RESERVKS. 97 



The regulation of the water supply by forests in this reserve is com- 

 paratively unimportant. The rainfall is sufficient for such crops as may 

 be grown, and the danger of floods is, for the present, slight. Priest 

 Lake serves as a storage reservoir, and its level is said to have an 

 extreme fluctuation of but 5 feet. Mention should be made, however, 

 of the increasing floods in the GolumbiaJRiver, upon which the destruc- 

 tion of forests in this reserve must exert a distinct influence. 



The special field assistant who examined this reserve, Mr. J. B. Lei- 

 berg, has had long and full experience in mining in northern Idaho. I 

 quote his statement of its mineral resources : 



At the present time there are known to exist three mineral-bearing helts. One in 

 the region above the upper lake, one in the central portion, and one midway between 

 the lower lake and the south line of the reserve. Two of these belts have their long 

 diameter easterly and westerly, and very likely stretch entirely across the reserve, 

 while the northern one lies in a northerly and southerly direction. A great many 

 quartz claims have been located in the mineral-bearing zones. There are none 

 developed as yet sufficiently to prove the region a commercially profitable one in the 

 valuable metallic minerals. It is quite within the range of possibility that profita- 

 ble discoveries will eventually be made in this direction. 



AGEICULTUHB. 



A careful estimate places the agricultural lands of the reserve at 

 9,990 acres. These lands are nearly always found adjoining the streams. 

 As a rule they are wet and swampy, but can be reclaimed by ditching, 

 Nearly all natural meadows, fire glades, and grassy tracts are now set- 

 tled upon, and the procedure recommended in the first part of this 

 report, if adopted, will open the remaining agricultural lands to settle- 

 ment. Hay, oats, potatoes, and vegetables may be raised, but the last 

 two, on account of the frosts which may occur in any month, are never 

 sure. 



Mr. Leiberg speaks of the agricultural resources of the region as 

 follows : 



The Priest Eiver Reserve is a forest region. Its natural peculiarities are such that 

 it can never become an agricultural section, and all efforts to make it such should 

 be discontinued. Its chief value lies in the immense forest growth that it is capable 

 of maintaining, and in whatever of mineral deposits time may disclose. There is no 

 market for farm products within the reserve. Were such articles produced in greater 

 quantities than would supply the home demand they could not be shipped. There 

 is no cheap transportation available to the railway, and if there were the producer 

 would come into competition with like articles from other sections where they can 

 be grown much cheaper. 



Agricultural settlement in the Priest Eiver basin dates back but 

 seven years, and only 70 acres are under plow. Of the 1,200 acres of 

 agricultural land tributary to the Pend Oreille, less than 200 are 

 cultivated. 



Probably every considerable body of accessible white pine timber is 

 completely covered by squatters' claims, ostensibly for agricultural 

 purposes, yet not 5 acres have been cleared of living timber. The 

 obvious intention is to hold these lands for the timber they contain, 

 and probably to abandon them when it has been cut. Every bona fide 

 settler within the reserve should be protected, bu^ claims of this sort 

 are not contemplated by the law, and measures should be taken to 

 render them void. 



S. Doc. 189 7 



