208 
of the mountain lies Heart Lake, with a surface area of 3 square miles. 
All three of these lakes are important feeders of Snake River. 
‘The greater part of the Park plateau and the adjacent mountains, 
more especially the western slope of the Absaroka Range, are densely 
covered with timber. After a careful study of the forests, I think it 
may be safely said that 84 per cent. of the area of the country is forest- 
elad. The broad bottoms of the main river valleys, the steeper mount- 
ain slopes, the meadows, marshes, and geyser basins, and the tops of 
ridges above timber-line, comprise the timberless areas. Frequently 
the broad summits of the higher elevated ridges present more or less 
barren areas due to the almost incessant exposure to high winds, but 
over the greater part of the country timber line ranges from 9,600 to 
9,800 feet above sea level. Over the Park plateau the timber offers a 
somewhat monotonous aspect, with little variety of species. Fully 
two-thirds of the forest trees belong to one species, the Black Pine 
(Pinus Murrayana), a straight, slender tree which rarely attains a height 
exceeding 75 feet. Trequently it occurs only afew inches in diameter,! 
when it is generaliy known as “‘ Lodge pole” Pine. Next to the Black 
Pine comes the Balsam (Abies subalpina), which also covers considerable 
areas, most frequently on steep slopes and generally on moist ground, 
Associated with this last species is found the Spruce (Picea Engelmanni), 
more abundant, however, on the slopes of the Absaroka Range than 
over the plateau. The grandest tree of the region is the Douglas, 
or Red Fir (Pseudotsuga Douglasti), which occurs scattered over the 
Park, more especially in the neighborhood of Mount Washburn and 
Specimen Ridge. The only other species common enough in any way 
to characterize the forest, or to call for special mention, are the Pinus 
flewilis, and its associated variety, Pinus albicaulis, the latter widely 
distributed in the southern end of the Park at high altitudes, where it 
occurs as a common tree on the slopes of Mount Sheridan and Mount 
Hancock. According to Mr. Frank Tweedy, only five genera and eight 
species of conifers are known to occur within the present Park limits, 
the additional species being the Juniperus communis and J. Virginiana, 
both found over very limited areas. The arborescent growth in no way 
equals the grand forests of California, Oregon, and Washington Terri- 
tory, either in size and development of the trees or in the quality of 
the wood. Itisin general stunted in growth, and furnishes but a poor 
quality of timber in comparison with the magnificent forests found to the 
westward. Its importance to the nation does not consist in its market- 
able value, but rather in its power to store up the water and to regulate 
the flow of streams. For this purpose it is of incalculable value, and 
quite as serviceable in its way as the timber of the western Cordilleras. 
The life of the forest is of short duration. The scanty, gravelly soil 
affords at best but slight protection to the roots against the force of 
the winds blowing almost incessantly from the west, as is only too well 

1 Owing to its dense growth.—B. E. F. 

