UTILIZING TROOPS IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



By GEORGE M. CORNWALL. 



OHE loss of timber in the national forests by fire in 1910, according to 

 Forester Graves in his report to Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, was 

 the greatest since the national forests were created, aggregating six 

 billion feet. The fires covered an area in excess of three million acres. The 

 value of the timber destroyed is estimated at twenty five million dollars. In 

 addition to the property loss by the nation, seventy-six Forest Service employes 

 gave ui> their lives. The cost of lighting these forest fires aggregated about 

 one million dollar.s or less than one per cent of the property saved. The 

 severest losses were experienced in Idaho and western Montana, while the 

 damage inflicted in the national forests in Klamath County, Oregon, was very 

 considerable. At one time last August, Forester C. S. Chapman, at Portland, 

 i-ei)orted 27 miles of fire line on the Crater National Forest, sweeping madly 

 forward, gathering force and momentum with every mile, and practically 

 carrying everything before its devastating advance. 



The states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana con- 

 tain practically one-half of the standing timber of the United States. The 

 estimated stumpage of the national forests in these five states is placed at 

 three hundred and eighty-nine billion feet. This timber belongs to the nation. 

 To the Forest Service is entrusted its safe keeping from fire. Up to the present 

 time the amount of money available for the building of roads and trails and 

 the establishment of fire lines has been altogether too limited. Last year 

 5,500 miles of road and 1,600 miles of trail was built. Considering the extent 

 of the territory to be protected, the available means at command of the Forest 

 Service has been only a bagatelle. 



During the terrible fires which devastated northern Idaho and western 

 Montana, the writer hajipened to be in Spokane, Washington. The exact date 

 was August 4th. The smoke was rolling into the city. The sun assumed a 

 sickly yellowish glare as its rays penerated the smoky atmosphere. The air 

 during" these terrific forest fires seems to lose its freshness— the oxygen seems 

 to be wanting — burned up. Things take on an uncanny and exaggerated ap- 

 pearance. The face of nature looks different. 



The noon edition of the Spokane Chronicle brought the unwelcome an- 

 nouncement of the de<ath of several brave Forest Service employes, hemmed 

 in by the fires— caught like rats in a trap, while defending the nation's 

 Iiroperty. The difficulty of getting firefighters was mentioned in the dis- 

 patches. Employment office blackboards carried announcements of the ne- 

 cessity for men to go to the front to fight fires. Men fitted for the arduous 

 task were difficult to get. In the meantime the fires were increasing in num- 

 ber. It occurred to the writer that the government should lend the use of 

 the troops. The idea was presented at the meeting of the Western Pine 

 Manufacturers' Association, and a resolution adopted. The Western Forestry 

 and Conservation Association, through its jiresident, A. L. Flewelling, was 

 brought into action, and the following telegram forwarded: 



587 



