SURVEYS OF FOREST RESERVES. Ill 



developed withiu the reserve for some time to come, but eventually 

 water transportation by way of the Snake- Eiver and its larger tribu- 

 taries will make this forest economically important for the less thor- 

 oughly timbered regions down the river. 



WASHINGTON FOEEST RESBEVE. 



SUMMARY. 



Situation: Northeru Washington. 



Acres. 



Area within present lines 3, 594, 240 



Adverse holdings, railroad lands 48, 240 



Per cent of 

 total area. 



Area of forest land (?) 90 



Area marked by tire (?) 40 



Area badly burned (?) 15 



Revised lines can not be dravrn until complete reports are available. 



Force recommended : One ranger, 4 guards, 30 fire watchers. 



Sources of information: Personal examination, July 26 to August 10, and August 



16-18, 1897. 



An excessively rugged and broken mountain region covered with a comparatively 

 open growth east of the main divide, and with a rich, dense, and exceedingly pro- 

 ductive forest of tall trees onthe western slope. 



Irrigation to the east and the prevention of floods on the west demand the pro- 

 tection of these forests. 



Mining locations are frequent, but only one mine of the first rank is in operation. 



Agriculture is not important within the reserve. 



Grazing may reach some small development on the eastern slope. 



Provisions are immediately required by whirh mining timber may legally be cut, 

 and the construction of trails is of pressing importance. 



The Washington Forest Reserve is situated in northern Washington, 

 and has a total area within its boundaries of 3,594,240 acres, of which 

 48,240 acres are railroad land. It occupies both slopes of the broken 

 and rugged Cascade Range and extends down into the flatter country 

 on the east and west. The rock is chiefly granitic in character and 

 the soil thin and poor. The remarkable forest growth on the western 

 slope is due to the exceedingly heavy precipitation of moisture which 

 the prevailing westerly winds bring from the Pacific. On the eastern 

 slope the climate is much drier, the trees smaller, and the ravages of 

 fire conspicuously greater. 



The trade relations of this reserve have hitherto been limited to the 

 commerce which has followed one or two large mines and the small 

 amount of timber which has been cut on the Skagit and some of its 

 tributaries. 



EASTERN SI.OPjI. 



The forest on the eastern slope of the Cascades changes from scanty 

 and open groups of yellow pine in the lower regions to the east, through 

 dense forests of Engelmann spruce and Douglas fir (red fir) to the 

 scanty subalpine forest flora of hemlock and white-bark pine near the 

 timber line. It differs so conspicuously from the richer and moister 

 forest of the western slope that it will be better to consider separately 

 the eastern and western aspects of the Cascade Range. 



PIKE, EASTERN SLOPE. 



Very considerable areas of the eastern slope have been totally denuded 

 by fire of the valuable kinds of trees. Repeated burning of the forest 

 is followed by dense and vigorous thickets of alder, willow, and dwarf 



