HOW ONE NATIONAL FOREST IS PROTECTED 



By D. N. ROGERS. 



^^e;^HE Plumas National Forest, comprising 1,433,600 acres in the northern 

 CJ Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, is divided into thirteen adminis- 

 ^■^ strative districts. Each of these is in charge of one or more rangers, 

 depending upon the amount of business in the district. It has been found 

 from experience that upon eight of these districts, including nearly all of 

 the western part of the forest lying west of the Grizzly Range and Indian 

 Valley, the danger from fire is particularly great. Accordingly, in planning 

 a system of fire protection for the entire forest, the preparation for patrol 

 was confined for the most part to these districts. Considerable past experi- 

 ence upon the forest with different systems of fire protection had shown that 

 by the use of lookout points the effectiveness of the patrol could be greatly 

 increased. A careful survey was therefore made of the entire western section 

 of the forest, and two peaks from which fires could be located upon nearly 

 all the dangerous territory were selected as lookout points. Headquarters 

 were provided for the lookout men who would be stationed on these peaks 

 during the entire fire season, and telephone lines were constructed from the 

 lookout peaks to the supervisor's office at Quincy. New telephone lines were 

 also constructed in addition to those already in use, so as to give direct con- 

 nection from the supervisor's office to every ranger's district upon the forest. 



In order to make the lookout from these peaks as effective as possible, 

 three maps of the entire forest were prepared, one for the supervisor's office and 

 one for each of the lookout points. To assist in accurately locating fires, 

 these maps are sectionized, and also show the towns and the topography by 

 peaks, rivers, creeks, valleys, etc. Upon the maps used on the lookout peaks, 

 the courses are laid off at a distance of two degrees apart, upon a circle 

 around the lookout point, the courses being indicated by lines extending from 

 the point of observation to the exterior boundary of the forest. The map 

 is properly oriented and attached securely to a permanent table. From these 

 direction lines the course of each fire is determined by use of an alidade, and 

 this information is then telephoned in to the supervisor. The map in the 

 supervisor's office is practically a duplicate of the lookout map, except that 

 both lookout stations are shown and the direction lines are drawn from each 

 so that they intersect upon that part of the territory which can be seen 

 from both lookouts. When a fire occurs which can be observed by both look- 

 outs, it is thus possible to locate it by means of the iutersection of the courses 

 which are telephoned in by the lookouts. 



During this season, fires which have occurred at not too great a distance 

 from either lookout point, have been located by inter.section exactly. Where 

 the fires have occuri-ed at some distance, location by this means has been 

 made within less than one-quarter of a mile. The accuracy with which fires 

 can be located by this means is a matter of very great importance in the 

 effectiveness of the lookout peaks, since the ranger upon whose district the 

 fire occurs can be notified of its exact location, and can consequently reach it 

 without unnecessary delay. 



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