Mammals of northern Idaho

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Rust, Henry Judson

Source:

Journal of Mammalogy, American Society of Mammalogists, Volume 27, Issue 4, p.308-327 (1946)

Call Number:

A46RUS01IDUS

Abstract:

Northern Idaho is an area of approximately 13,000,000 acres extending from Canada south to the Salmon River canyon, which crosses Idaho County from east to west. This natural barrier is considered as the dividing line or break between the Northern Rocky Mountain and the Central Rocky Mountain regions. With the exception of a little less than 3,000,000 acres which are open agricultural land, the region is extremely rough and heavily forested. The area at the extreme north is only 47 miles in width where it is bounded by British Columbia. On the east a succession of rugged mountain chains separate it from western Montana. On the west, from Canada south to Lewiston, Idaho, no natural barriers separate it from the state of Washington. From Lewiston, south, the Snake River forms a water barrier. The entire area was divided into four counties in 1884. These have been subdivided from time to time and now number ten. Approximately 77 percent of the total area is forest land, of which 57.4 percent are National Forests, established in 1908. Other Federal lands comprise 2.4 percent; Idaho State Forest lands, 6.2 percent. The balance, 34 percent, is privately owned forest land. The National Forest lands are divided into seven National Forests, the size of each depending somewhat on such natural boundaries as water courses or mountain chains and their accessibility for proper management. The writer has spent considerable time over a number of years collecting and studying the flora and fauna of northern Idaho and offers part of the information thus obtained as an addition to that already known.