96 



course iu a uoitheasterly directioQ through the county, receives the 

 waters of eleven large affluents. Lost Eiver and its tributaries water 

 the southeastern part of the county. The topography of the region is 

 greatly varied, and agricultural, grazing, and timber lands cover nearly 

 the entire area. In the western part of the county are a number of 

 small lakes. 



Nearly one-half of the county is forest land. Very little, if any, has 

 been made waste by burning. Pine, Fir, and Cottonwood are the pre- 

 dominant trees. The timber is inferior, the trees rarely exceeding two 

 feet in diameter of trunk. Cottonwood is used mostly for fuel. 



With the exception of a few fruit trees no tree planting is reported. 



IDAHO COUNTY. 



(Total area, 9,200 square miles; estimated forest area, 1,950 square miles.) 



Idaho County is essentially a mountainous region, the principal por- 

 tion of the Salmon Eiver Mountains being included within its bounda- 

 ries. These mountains are in no well-defined range, but are a vast col- 

 lection of irregularly scattered peaks, overtopping a wilderness of lesser 

 peaks, all of a rugged and forbidding aspect. The average altitude is 

 about 0,000 feet, though many peaks have an elevation of nearly double 

 that height. 



The county is watered principally by the Salmon Eiver and its tribu- 

 taries. The northern portion is drained by some of the forks of the 

 Clearwater. Salmon Eiver cuts a deep chasm through the county from 

 east to west. Its valley is from 3,000 to 4,000 feet lower than the aver- 

 age altitude of the mining camps scattered through the adjacent mount- 

 ains, causing a marked difference iu climate. In the winter snow rarely 

 falls before February, and frequently the ground is not whitened during 

 the year, while in the surrounding mining camps the snow covers the 

 mountain sides from 4 to 8 feet in depth. 



Camas Prairie, comprising an area of six to ten townships on the 

 western border, is the only agricultural portion of the county. 



The forests cover the outer portions of the countj^ Three fourths of 

 the timber-lands are well stocked, one-eighth is young growth, and one- 

 eighth made waste by recent fires. The principal species of trees are 

 Cedar, White Pine, Tamarack, and Eed and Yellow Fir. Some of the 

 timber is very large and fine, growing from 1 to 6 feet in diameter. In 

 the open country considerable tree-planting is done without the aid of 

 irrigation. 



KOOTENAI COUNTY. 



(Total area, 4,830 square miles ; estimated forest area, 2,400 square miles.) 



This county is in the extreme northern or "pan-handle" portion of 

 Idaho. The high and rugged Cceur d'Alene Mountains extend through 

 the central part from east to west. Flanking this range are lakes Pend 



