Sunmiary of Findings 



FOREST AREA 



Cascade County, so named because of 

 the numerous cascades in the Missouri 

 River, was formed in 188? from portions 

 of Meagher, Lewis & Clark, and Chouteau 

 Counties. Its forests are mainly in 

 the southern part of the county in the 

 Belt Mountains. They are of value not 

 only for their timber, but because of 

 their effect on water runoff and on 

 soil stability. 



With a gross land area of slightly 

 more than 1.7 million acres. Cascade 

 County has approximately 319,000 acres 

 or 19 percent of its area in forests. 

 Of this, three quarters or 236,000 

 acres is classified as commercial 

 forest land — areas capable of pro- 

 ducing commercial timber and economi- 

 cally accessible now or prospectively. 

 The remaining 83,000 acres are noncom- 

 mercial — areas chiefly valuable for 

 purposes other than timber production. 



The Lewis & Clark National Forest, 

 established by President Cleveland in 

 1897, includes nearly 55 percent of the 

 forest land in Cascade County. Small 

 private owners possess the next largest 

 forest area. They have nearly 98,000 

 acres in contrast to the national forest 

 with 174,000 acres. The state and county 

 together own about 17,000 acres. 



The condition of the forest land, both 

 public and private, should be cause for 

 public concern. One half of all the 

 forest area is not stocked satisfactorily. 

 On privately owned, county, state, and 

 public domain forests, the situation is 

 worse with nearly 68 percent unsatis- 

 factorily stocked. The national forest 

 is somewhat better off with only 37 

 percent unsatisfactorily stocked. To 

 remedy this situation requires intensive 

 forest practices; not just fire protection, 

 but removal of decadent and low quality 

 trees, planting on the most productive 

 areas, and controlled cutting and grazing. 



OF COUNTY IS FORESTED 



74% OF THE FOREST LAND WILL GROW 

 COMMERCIAL TIMBER 



THE PUBLIC OWNS MOST OF THE 

 FOREST LAND 



-3- 



