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Oregon Digital
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tion on the west-facing slopes tends to increase rapidly with elevation, reaching 46 inches at Roland, Idaho, with elevation of 4,150 feet.
Distribution of the precipitation is markedly seasonal, the maximum occurring during the winter. At...
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rapidly. Wide day-to-day fluctuations in temperature not uncommon at any season, are apt to be particularly marked during this spring period when late winter or early spring snowstorms may be followed by a "chinook," a dry warm wind which rapidly...
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and well above, small, entrenched tributaries. Farther west, toward the Snake River, rolling lands and flats drop down to an elevation of 750 feet at Lewiston, at the junction of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers.
North of the abrupt, northern...
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root Valley section, though near the northern end of that valley they swing northwesterly, away from the axis of the trench. The mountains rise abruptly from the Bitterroot Valley to elevations of 9,000 feet. Strongly glaciated, with resulting...
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Some small creeks there are quite fully used for irrigation, but the depletion (about 600,000 acre-feet) in that part of the Clark Fork drainage amounts to only 5 percent of the total available run-off. For the Bitterroot Valley, where water...
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The silt content of most streams is low except during the spring, flood run-off and in those cases where mine mill wastes are discharged into them. The problems raised by the latter conditions are serious on the upper Clark Fork River in the...
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by clay and commonly known as "alkali" depressions which are contained within these lands, however, materially impair their agricultural value. In other localities the lands are quite rolling, and the soils are light-brown, gravelly loams of...
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route in their annual migrations. Although little food for waterfowl is available in the clear, swift streams, the lakes provide feeding and resting spots. Flathead Lake is highly important as a nesting place for Canada geese. Nearly 5,000 acres...
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forest cover. The 16,202,279 acres of land within national forest boundaries account for nearly half the total area of the subdivision, a proportion greater than in any other subdivision. Private land, particularly land in farms, nevertheless,...
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6,630,000 acres of land, of which about 2,260,000 acres are classed as plowable. Crops were harvested from 1,350,000 acres in 1939. The remainder of the plowable acreage was accounted for by about 486,000 acres of land where crop failure was...
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and corn. Production of small fruits and vegetables is of some local importance. Hay, small grains, and pasture are the principal crops grown without irrigation.
The Clark Fork headwaters area is predominantly a livestock section. Between the...
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Image captions: Cut-over farm north of Kalispell, Mont.
Dairy cows on cut-over farm land near Whitefish, Mont.
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amounts to 84,000,000,000 board feet, ranking this subdivision second only to the lower Columbia Basin where saw-timber volume is about 1.6 times as great. Production of more than a billion board feet of lumber in the Clark Fork-Clearwater...
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forested lands to a very limited extent for grazing livestock during the summer months.
White pine, a most valuable species of commercial timber, is found in important stands in the western part of the subdivision. White pine comprises only...
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Mining
The Clark Fork-Clearwater subdivision ranks highest among the subdivisions as a producer of minerals. In 1939 its total combined production of copper, zinc, silver, lead, and gold approximated 370,000 tons with a value of about...
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Image captions: The Morning Mine of the Federal Mining & Smelting Co., near Mullan, Idaho, in Coeur d'Alene mining district.
Bunker Hill & Sullivan Smelter at Kellogg, Idaho.
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three transcontinental railroads crossing the area provide a ready market for large quantities of ties.
Forest resources are available in the Clark Fork-Clearwater subdivision for expansion of wood-using industries along certain lines. Although...
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Image captions: Forested mountains cast of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Mill of Ohio Match Co., on Spokane River near Post Falls, Idaho.
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A branch of the Union Pacific Railroad into Spokane provides connections with the main line of that railroad to the Midwest and to Portland, Oreg. The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry. supplies an alternate route to Portland via the lower Columbia...
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Image captions: Sailing on Coeur d'Alene Lake, City of Coeur d'Alene in background.
Kootenai River about 10 miles west of Libby, Mont.
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the State parks provide a wide variety of excellent recreational facilities.
Lakes are the centers of greatest recreational activity. Flathead. Swan, and Whitefish Lakes of Montana: Coeur d'Alene, Pend Oreille, Priest Lake, and smaller bodies of...
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downstream plants on the main stems of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. One reservoir with live storage capacity of 3,100,000 acre-feet would be constructed on the Clearwater River, tributary to the Snake. The other five, with aggregate live storage...
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Missoula, now under construction by the Bureau of Reclamation, is discussed below.
Power.—The principal hydroelectric developments are in two plants having total installed capacity of 33,000 kilowatts, both of which are owned and operated by...
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used largely for production of forage crops. It consists of many scattered tracts served by small, privately owned, gravity diversions. Late-season shortages occur on some of the smaller tributaries, but they are not critical. In general, the...
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for rehabilitation of the system. In 1936, an additional $200,000 was advanced for further construction work. The project water supply from Rock Creek and from Lost Horse Creek by feeder canal is supplemented by storage in Lake Como, capacity...
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