Burns Lake: 13 miles long, 1 1/4 miles wide, and Decker Lake, 7 172
miles long, 1/2 to 1 mile wide, both expansions of the Endako River,
are deep lakes with heavily forested slopes rising from them. Marsh
areas, chiefly sedges, characterize the margins of shallow bays and
willow swamps are adjacent to them. Rose Lake, 1/2 mile long, 1/4
mile wide, headwaters of the Endako River, is similar. None of
these was examined in detail. Mallard are reported to nest in small
numbers and one brood of this duck was noted on Burns Lake.

Bulkley Lake and Region

Bulkley Lake: 2 3/4 miles long, 3/4 mile wide, headwaters of the
Bulkley River, is situated close to the divide that in this part

of the Province separates the drainage of the Fraser River from

that of the Skeena River. A coniferous forest is continuous on

the slopes to the south (Fig. 27); on the north the forest is
chiefly aspen with glades and slopes of grassland (Fig. 28). The
river valley is flat and for the most part covered with deep, rich
soil, the exceptions being sections close to the river and to Maxan
Creek that have become overlaid with sand, boulders and gravel--the
detritus of floods. Here tall, black cottonwoods are the chief

tree growth. Cultivated hay lands on the Clarke Ranch reach to
within a quarter-mile of the lake where a broad band of willows

and other deciduous shrubs intervenes (Fig. 27). Between the shrub-
bery and the lake shore is a section on which native grasses includ-
ing Alopecurus aequalis grow to a height of five feet and more; on
moister ground close to the water these give way to sedges, Carex
athrostachya, C., lenticularis, C. macloviana, var. pachystachya

and others, and finally to horsetail that forms a strip of marsh
along all the west shore.

The outlet of the lake, the Bulkley River, is at its north-
west corner. For a distance of 10 miles or so downstream the river
varies in width from 20 to 60 feet in a series of shallow rifiiless;
deep quiet reaches and log-jam pools. The shores are overhung
with deciduous trees and shrubbery. At the outlet the banks are
lined with tall river-grass, sedges and bur-reed. Yellow pond
lily grows along both sides in parallel lines that converge in the
open water beyond and extend outward to cover several acres of the
lake surface. Amongst the pond lilies is an abundance of pond-
weeds and other aquatic vegetation. Maxan Creek follows the base
of a timbered ridge that rises sharply from the Clarke meadow,
then, turning slightly, passes through thick willow woods and
finally reaches the lake near its southeast corner about a mile
west of the Bulkley River. For the last 20 yards or so it is
confined within a narrow channel that cuts across a gravel beach.

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