SURVEYS OF FOREST RESERVES. 109 



TETON FOREST RESERVE. 



SUMMARY. 



Situation : Northwestern W^yomiug. 



Acres. 



Area within present lines 829,440 



Adverse holdings not important. 



Per cent of 

 total area. 



Area of forest land 65 



Area marked by fire (?)60 



Area badly burned .' (?) 40 



Revised linos can not be drawn without further study. 



Force recommended : This reserve should be provisionally placed in charge of the 



superintendent of Yellowstone National Park. 

 Sources of information : Report of T. S. Brandegee, special field assistant, United 

 States Geological Survey. Statements of Henry Gannett, geographer. United States 

 Geological Survey. No personal examination. 



A rugged, broken mountain region, sparsely covered with open forest chiefly of 

 lodge-pole pine, through which runs a broad valley of grazing land. 



Injury from forest fires has been and continues to be very serious. 



The protection of streams for irrigation is not of great importance here. 



Mining has but little importance. 



Agriculture is practiced little or not at all. 



Grazing may probably be permitted in Jackson Hole. , 



Provision should be made to supply settlements in Jackson and Pierre holes with 

 necessary lumber. 



The Teton Forest Eeserve is situated in northwestern Wyoming, con- 

 tiguous to the Idaho boundary line, and has a length from east to west 

 of 54 miles and a breadth from north to south of 24 miles. The total 

 area included within its boundaries is 829,440 acres, nearly the whole 

 of which is unburdened by adverse rights. 



The striking feature of the topography is the Teton Range, which 

 traverses the reserve from north to south and reaches an altitude of 

 13,370 feet. On the west the country descends rapidly to the valley of 

 Pierre River and on the east to Jackson Hole. The latter is a level 

 valley from 5 to 10 miles in width, crossing nearly the whole breadth 

 of the reserve from north to south. It contains many lakes, the largest 

 of which, Jackson Lake, is 10 miles long by 3 miles wide. The whole 

 area of the reserve is drained by Snake Eiver, which flows through 

 Jackson Lake and Jackson Hole from north to south. 



The climate is exceedingly severe, so much so that agriculture, except 

 for the cultivation of forage plants, is said to be impossible. The rain- 

 fall, although no measurements have been made, is probably consider- 

 able, as would be indicated by the elevation, the mountainous charac- 

 ter of the reserve, and the condition of the forest. 



THB FOREST. 



The general character of the forest is broken and open. The trees 

 are small, and the merchantable timber of the whole area trifling in 

 amount compared with other reserves on the western slope of the con- 

 tinental divide. Four-fifths of the forest is composed of lodge-pole 

 pine, with Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir (red fir), quaking aspen, and 

 two cottonwoods as the other principal trees. 



The lodge-pole pine is here a small tree, with average measurements 

 as follows: Height, 60 feet; diameter, 1 foot; length of clear trunk, 25 

 feet. It is distributed from the lower portions of the reserve to an alti- 

 tude of 9,000 feet, and furnishes fencing and rough building materials. 



