166 



ANNUAL EEPOKTS OF DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUKE. 



mating are expended only on areas which will probably be in demand 

 within a few years. The estimates and maps furnish the basis for the 

 appraisals required by law before timber can be sold and for fixing 

 the silvicultural and other provisions of the sale contracts. 



During the year the terms of sale, including minimum prices, were 

 fixed for eight large tracts, each containing over 30,000,000 feet of 

 stumpage. At the close of the year applications for the purchase of 

 three of these blocks had been received. 



TIMBER TRESPASS. 



The receipts for timber cut in trespass were $7,284.17. Timber tres- 

 pass on the National Forests is no longer important in amount or 

 character. The incentive has been largely removed by the availability 

 of National Forest stumpage under free use or reasonable terms of 

 sale. New trespass cases are usually the result of unintentional 

 error in regard to title or the location of boundaries. 



TIMBER SETTLEMENT. 



The receipts for timber cut in connection with the occupancy of 

 National Forest land for rights of way and other special uses were 

 $3,180.89. During the preceding fiscal year $39,927.11 was received 

 from the same source. 



PROTECTION. 



The number of National Forest fires during the calendar year 1914 

 and their causes are shown in the following table : 



Extent of fires and amount 

 of damage. 



Under J acre 



Between J and 10 acres 



10 acres and over; damage 



under SlOO 



10 acres and over; damage 



SlOO to $1,000 



10 acres and over; damage 



over $1,000 



Total 



Number 

 of fires. 



3,253 



1,807 



988 



458 



99 



6,605 



Per cent 

 of total. 



49.27 

 27.36 



14.96 



6.93 



1.48 



100.00 



Causes of fires. 



Railroads 



Liglitning 



Incendiarism 



Brush burning 



Campers 



Sawmills, donkey engines, etc 



Unknown 



Miscellaneous 



Total 



Number 

 of fires. 



1,110 



2,032 



470 



596 



1,126 



89 



831 



351 



6,605 



Per cent 

 of total. 



16.80 

 30.77 



7.12 



9.02 

 17.05 



1.35 

 12.58 



5.31 



100.00 



The season of 1914 was hot and dry, and before its close a condi- 

 tion of grave emergency existed. In the heavily timbered districts 

 of the northern Eocky Mountains and Pacific slope the winter snows 

 were much below normal. An early spring and an early drying out 

 of the Forests followed. In western Montana and northern Idaho 

 there were forest fires in considerable numbers by the end of May. 

 They continued until October. In California, where the dry season 

 is always long, the danger period opened in some portions five weeks 

 earlier than usual, and at the end of November the danger in the 

 southern part of the State was still great. Sustained periods of high 

 temperature, recurring hard and steady winds, and in places un- 

 usually hot, dry nights made the Forests exceedingly inflammable 

 and fire protection unusually difficult. Throughout a large part of 

 the West the fire hazard was quite as great as in 1910, when the great 

 fires swept northern Idaho and western Montana. 



