RANDOM TALK ON FOREST FIRES 



669 



advances the theory that the debris of the 

 forest should be burned at frequent inter- 

 vals, referring to the example set by the 

 "untutored Indians," as a measure of pro- 

 tection. Another writer expounds the same 

 theory in the August number of Sunset. 



It seems that these writers have become 

 slightlv tangled in the meaning of forestr>% 

 and have lost sight of what it is endeavoring 

 to accomplish. They have evidently mis- 

 construed its meaning and aim to be the 

 protection of standing, full grown saw tnn- 

 ber a hue. The term is much broader than 

 this. Those who are practicing forestry are 

 bending their efforts, with marked success, 

 toward the protection of the young, growing 

 trees which are developing into valuable 

 saw timber, as well as the protection of the 

 matured timber from destruction and waste 

 bv tire. 



If the present stand of matured tnnber 

 were the only thing to be considered and 

 protected the "problem would be an exception- 

 allv easy one, and the theory devised by the 

 above-mentioned writers could be used from 

 a practical standpoint. However, the prob- 

 lem confronting the lumbermen and the for- 

 esters of this country is more than the pro- 

 tection of standing mature timber. The 

 problem is to prevent the now standing 

 merchantable timber from destruction until 

 it can l3e converted into lumber and also to 

 prevent the land on which these valuable 

 forests are now standing from becoming a 

 barren waste, a sea of brush, after the ma- 

 ture timber has been utilized. 



When one stops to realize that a yearhng 

 pine or fir tree is no larger than a match 

 and is so tender and sensitive to external 

 conditions that the heat from a fire, even 

 though that fire is no larger than that made 

 Ijy a burning pine needle, will kill it, and 

 when it is considered that a three-year-old 

 tree will be killed by the heat thrown out by 

 three pine needles burning at its base, the 

 advisability of burning over the forest floor 

 takes on a different aspect. 



How are we going to burn over the forest 

 areas of the country at frequent intervals 

 and at the same time provide for the devel- 

 opment and growth of the new stand of 

 voung trees which should take the place of 

 the saw timber which our mills are con- 

 suming, thus preventing the land from be- 

 coming absolutely worthless? 



Through the methods used by the "un- 

 tutored Indians," and through the careless- 

 ness and mismanagement of the old-time 

 lumbermen throughout the United States, 

 there arc thousands of acre^ of land which 



once produced valuable forests but are now 

 absolutely worthless, producing nothing but 

 brush. 



There are other vast areas where only the 

 old mature timber is standing — where suc- 

 cessive fires have destroyed all the young 

 growth. 



The foresters of the country are now en- 

 deavoring to reclaim these barren wastes, 

 through natural and by artificial means, 

 to young forests and to assist the young 

 trees to get a start on the areas where only 

 scattered mature timber is now standing. 



The only practical method of accomplish- 

 ing this aim is to keep fire out until after 

 the young forest is past the stage of ex- 

 treme sensitiveness to heat, at which time 

 the forest policy will, no doubt, be so es- 

 taljlished that sums of money can be appro- 

 priated for the purpose of going through 

 certain sections of forest land, small areas 

 at a time, piling the fallen logs, branches 

 and debris, and burning these piles in a 

 practical, systematic manner at the right 

 season of the year, just as the United States 

 Forest Service is doing to-day in timber 

 sales after the logging operation has been 

 completed. 



It is certain that from a business stand- 

 point and from every other point of view, 

 the forest lands should not be left a worth- 

 less, fruitless desert after they have been 

 stripped of their present valuable product. 

 What are our mismanaged cut-over lands of 

 to-dav producing? What will the lands 

 whicli now bear only the mature trees pro- 

 duce after they have been logged over? 

 How can we increase the value and produc- 

 tiveness of both these classes of lands? Sim- 

 ply by protecting them from fire. 



In two hundred years from now lumber 

 will be just as much in demand, if not more 

 so, by the citizens of this country, as at the 

 present time. There are no new forests to 

 discover and to utilize, and so why should 

 we as the present occupants manage our 

 lands and forests for the selfish aims of to- 

 day alone, when by a little care and with 

 a 'comparatively slight expense we could 

 leave the country still producmg and our 

 forest lands in such shape that our mills 

 can return to these selfsame lands for a 

 second, a third, and innumerable cuts in the 

 future, after we have completed our span? 

 Such a thing is possible, but not through the 

 agency of fiVe, even as a servant, applied in 

 the manner recommended by a few, because 

 the growing stock and the nucleus of the 

 future stand has not been considered in the 

 protective measures. 



