72 THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [bull. 227. 
It was decided to classify lands as wooded and non wooded; to clas- 
sify the wooded land as that covered with forests valuable for lumber, 
and that of value only for firewood and other minor purposes; to esti- 
mate the amount of timber on the former and the stand per acre; to 
define those areas on which the timber has been cut and those on which 
it has been burned, and on each of these areas the lands on which there 
is a regrowth of the forest. 
Besides these data, information was required concerning the size, 
species, and quality of the tree growth, the extent to which it is diseased, 
the character of the undergrowth, the depth of humus and litter, the 
character of streams in respect to the driving of logs, the character 
of the country with reference to the building of logging railways, the 
demand for lumber in the neighborhood, and the effect of grazing 
(especially that of sheep) upon the present and future forests. 
Following is a schedule, b} T years, of the forest reserves and adjacent 
regions which have been examined: 
In 1897: Washington, Priest River, Bitterroot (in part), Black Hills, Bighorn, 
Teton and Yellowstone Park, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, and San Gabriel. 
In 1898: All reserves of Colorado, the Flathead, Bitterroot (completed). 
In 1899: Lewis and Clarke, Mount Rainier, Olympic (in part), Cascade Range in 
southern Oregon, part of Sierra Nevada, including Stanislaus and Lake Tahoe 
reserves, and Yosemite National Park. Besides the above, much information concern- 
ing the conditions of the forests in northern Minnesota was obtained, principally 
through correspondence. 
In 1900: Olympic (completed), northern part of Sierra Nevada, Sierra (in part), 
Cascade Range between Washington and Mount Rainier reserves. 
In 1901: Sierra (completed), Cascade Range in Oregon (completed), San Francisco 
Mountain Reserve (in part), southern Appalachians in North Carolina and adjacent 
States (in part). 
In 1902: San Francisco Mountain Reserve (completed), Black Mesa, Uinta (in 
part), southern Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and adjacent States. 
In 1903: Gila River, Lincoln, Wichita, part of Whatcom County, Wash., Little 
Belt, Absaroka. 
These examinations, extending over a period of seven years, cover! 
70,400,000 acres. Reports on these areas, down to those examined 
in 1901, except those in the Sierra Forest Reserve and in the Appa- 
lachians, have been published. Of the reserves examined in 1902 the 
reports on the San Francisco Mountain and Black Mesa reserves have 
been prepared and are in the hands of the printer. All these reports; 
are accompanied by maps and other illustrations. 
In addition to these examinations a large amount of information has 
been collected, mainly from the reports of lumber cruisers in private^ 
employ, concerning the forests of Washington outside of the reserves,! 
and from these data and the examinations of reserves there have been 
prepared estimates of the amount of timber in the State and of its dis- 
tribution areally and by species. Similar results have been obtained 
for Oregon, in part by collating cruisings, in part by the Survey's 
