IL— THE FORESTS OF THE EE&ION. 



LOCATION. 



The forests of the Eocky MoiintaiDS, raaiuly coniferous, are usually 

 located upon tbe mountain slopes, at altitudes varying from 4,500 to 

 12,000 feet above the seaj in some cases the timber line extends to a 

 height of 12,500 feet. The foot-hills and mesas often have a scattering, 

 inferior forest growth, and many of the streams which flow from the 

 mountains are bordered with a sparse growth of cotton wood and a few 

 other deciduous species native to the region. 



AREA. 



The forest areas, though large in themselves, are not large as com- 

 pared with the area of the entire region, which amounts to 640,155 square 

 miles, nor are they to any considerable extent contiguous. There are 

 at present no means of determining accurately their bounds and extent. 

 Approximate estimates only can be given, based mainly upon state- 

 ments received from residents of the several localities, or from persons 

 having special knowledge of particular portions of the region.* 



According to the best data obtainable, and including in the estimate 

 all kinds of forest growth, light and heavy, valuable and inferior, the 

 approximate forest areas, in square miles, of the several divisions are 

 as follows: Idaho, 15,990 j Montana, 26,285 j Wyoming, 12,060; Colo- 

 rado, 16,625 ; Kew Mexico, 12,500 ; Utah, 6,000 ; or a total in round 

 numbers of 90,000 square miles or 57,000,000 acres, being 14 per cent, 

 of the total land area. 



OWNERSHIP. 



The bulk of the forest land of the Eocky Mountain region is still owned 

 by the General Government. In 'New Mexico, through the means of old 

 Spanish grants, the titles to large tracts of woodland are held by private 



" Ifc is one of the most difficult undertakings, as every one who has attemjjted it knows, 

 to ascertain with accuracy the timber areas, especially in the great mountain region 

 of the West. In ail of the Territories I found a disposition among the people to 

 overestimate the timber area, and to call all lands timber lands that had once been 

 covered with forest growth. Lumber dealers and producers do not like to give figures 

 to a Government agent, and when they do, are not likely to exaggerate them. There 

 is no coranjon and recognized standard by which to estimate forest areas. — E. T. E. 



