Fire at St. Joe, Idaho, from a Distance of Four Miles 



It is impossible to give any reliable 

 estimate of the total loss at present, par- 

 ticularly in Idaho, for reports are con- 

 stantly being changed by more careful 

 investigation. First estimates seldom 

 include possibilities of salvage where 

 timber is not destroyed. Two impor- 

 tant facts may, however, be stated with 

 conviction : First, that the losses were 

 few and insignificant when the area in- 

 volved is considered; and, second, that 

 had it not been for the timber owners' 

 effort the contrary would have been 

 true and the Pacific Northwest would 

 have suffered a calamity past conceiv- 



3 



ing of. The really bad fires can be 

 counted on the fingers, while those ex- 

 tinguished, which under the conditions 

 that prevailed would otherwise have 

 been as bad or worse, number by thou- 

 sands. 



It is sometimes believed that the lum- 

 berman is the enemy of forest preserva- 

 tion and should be compelled to greater 

 duty to the public. Whether or not this 

 is true elsewhere, in the Pacific North- 

 west he is doing more for the cause 

 than any one else, and the problem, if 

 the cause is to succeed, is to get the 

 public to perform its own duty. 



643 



