Hpi ot ies 
COVER TYPE AND FIRE CONTROL 3 
association, the brush field (6), has in many places captured the land 
following the destruction of the forests by fire, logging, or both. 
(Pl. 3, A.) This type is in general considered separately from (7) 
the even less promising chaparral type. (PI. 4.) 
TaBLeE 1.—Distribution of cover-type areas in national-forest groups! of northern 
California 
[Thousands of acres; i. e., 000 omitted] 
All forests 
. North South 
7 
Cover type pice Hast side Sierra Sierra 
forests forests Total Perlcent 
Western yellows Dimer sa ee ee ee 1, 491 1, 244 1, 049 776 4, 554 30. 2 
Wiixediconilere! aim e2. <2 a wee Se aes 1, 328 138 635 1, 026 Soalzy, 20. 7 
TOUT AS HITS hs eyes SU ee re ee eae 1, 101 6 35 3 1, 145 7.6 
Sula pine——Nr eee el ey eee 91 43 OL Ree vee Sits 475 ByaL 
SONNY eS ie SES eee een eS eee 341 266 567 470 1, 644 10.9 
CASS ei at Reet come rae et ea 105 77 76 97 555 ah if 
@haparnaliic ae oe ere erie ae ee 258 38 12 95 403 7 Uf 
WiOOd lancet eal ee ae eee a oe 248 332 39 332 951 6.3 
YB YS) Oe Sia Se Te 1, 045 213 385 596 2, 239 14.8 
PAU Gy CSteaeret ate ae Ee 6, 008 2, 557 3, 139 3, 389 15, 093 100. 0 
1 Northern, Klamath, Trinity, Shasta, and California National Forests; east side, Modoc and Lassen 
National Forests; north Sierra, Plumas, Tahoe, and Eldorado National Forests; south Sierra, Stanislaus, 
Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests. 
Grouped for the sake of simplicity and because of similarity are 
several woodland types (8), including the oak (Quercus douglasiz), 
(pl. 3, B), oak—digger pine (Pinus sabiniana), and digger pine of the 
western Sierra Nevada slopes, the juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) and 
juniper—mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) of the eastern 
slopes, the California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) and madrofio 
(Arbutus menziesiz) mixtures of the north Coast Ranges. The grass- 
land type (9) includes areas on which sage (Artemesia tridentata), 
bitter brush (Kuntzia tridentata) and the rabbit brushes (Chryso- 
thamus sp.) occur. The alpine and subalpine types are practically 
free from fires and are not considered. 
In a broad way the major types succeed each other (figs. 1, 2, 3, and 
4), from the grass and chaparral of the Sierra foothills eastward 
through the oak and digger pine woodland, the commercial forests of 
western yellow pine, mixed conifer, sugar pine-fir, and pure fir, then 
across the summit in the scattered alpine protection forests, descend- 
ing the east slope through the pure fir, the commercial mixed conifer, 
the pure western yellow ‘and J effrey pine forests and the juniper wood- 
land to the sage and grassland of the eastern plateau. An exception 
is the Douglas | fir type, which is largely confined to the northern group 
of forests. Locally the types follow no simple successive altitudinal 
arrangement, but, because of minor variations in topography, aspect, 
or soil, are intermingled. The normal zonation is further upset and 
in places obscured by the presence of brush fields. 
It is found advisable to classify the types more generally by a natu- 
ral grouping, to bring out more clearly certain trends in the behavior 
of fire. The natural affiliations as recognized in these groups are: 
Chaparral and brush fields. 
Woodland and grassland. 
Western yellow pine and mixed conifer. 
Douglas fir. 
Sugar pine-fir and fir. 
