THE FOREST HOLOCAUST 



689 



ago, that at the present rate of con- 

 sumption of timber the end of the 

 American forests as sources of supply 

 of good material would come in twenty 

 years. The warning was based on a 

 study of conditions in every part of 

 the United States. The fires that have 

 been in progress since the present 

 period of drought began have been the 

 most damaging in a quarter of a 

 century. 



"If adequate protective measures are 

 not taken the limit of twenty years' life 

 set for the woodlands will be cut in 

 half. If prompt action is taken, even 

 in view of the great losses of the year, 

 the forests may be preserved for all 

 time." 



WHAT FOREST FIRES SIGNIFY 



"If the people of Minnesota and 

 neighboring states had taken in earnest 

 all that has been said of late about 

 conserving our natural resources, they 

 would have done something to prevent 

 these calamitous forest fires or to make 

 them less destructive. Probably if an 

 attempt had been made to obtain an 

 appropriation from the Minnesota leg- 

 islature for a sufficient number of men 

 to patrol the forests during the more 

 dangerous part of the year, it would 

 have met with failure — have been 

 called a useless and extravagant ex- 

 penditure. 



"But a comparatively small outlay 

 would have cut down to insignificant 

 figures a fire-loss which is in the mil- 

 lions. Wisconsin had one great forest 

 fire more than thirty years ago ; if it 

 were to have another, the fault would 

 rest with a state government which 

 failed to adopt preventive measures." 

 — The Chicago Tribune. 



PREVENTION OF FOREST FIRES 



"The prevention of forest fires is 

 really the most strenuous problem that 

 confronts the department of the gov- 

 ernment concerned about increasing the 

 forests of the United States. It will 

 take a great deal of replanting every 

 Aear to overcome the ravages which 



are worked by these fires. In a night 

 a forest fire may burn up more wood 

 than would supply half a state with 

 lumber. 



"One who has not traversed the vast 

 pine forests can't realize what are the 

 dangers that constantly menace such 

 forests, especially in the belts where 

 summer droughts are long protracted 

 and severe. There is always a lot of 

 deadwood and dried grasses in which 

 ti'C sparks from locomotives and the 

 fagots from the careless campers find 

 lodgment and start great conflagra- 

 tions. The railroad companies seem- 

 ingly take every precaution. They 

 plough furrows and they burn over 

 strips on which sparks are apt to fall, 

 but all these precautions often go for 

 naught. One way in which the dangers 

 from railroad locomotives might be 

 overcome is by the use of oil for fuel 

 instead of coal. Oil as fuel means that 

 no sparks are scattered over the coun- 

 try. Many railroads now use a very 

 soft coal and sparks and cinders are 

 thrown out in vast quantities. There 

 ought to be some way of preventing 

 such dangers." — The Republican, Cedar 

 Rapids, Iowa. 



FOK£STRY AS AN INSURANCE 



"Forest fires in the Mesaba range, 

 IMinnesota, which wiped out the town 

 of Chisholm and destroyed more than 

 $5,000,000 worth of property, were fed 

 largely by the tangle of deadwood and 

 brush which had accumulated in years 

 of forest neglect. The intensity of the 

 average forest fire is due to similar 

 conditions. Improved forestry prevents 

 such timber heaps. It costs money for 

 labor to clear the woods of brush and 

 to remove fallen trees and deadwood, 

 but such work does somethine more 

 than save all the living powers of the 

 soil for the growing trees. It prevents 

 the accumulation of fuel with which 

 to feed sweeping flames. Is it not worth 

 while? The value of forestry as an 

 insurance against fire loss is capable 

 of mathematical demonstration.'" — The 

 Boston Herald. 



