PRESENT FIRE SEASON ON NATIONAL FORESTS 



535 



Further south, in California, which 

 forms District 5, 154 fires have been re- 

 ported up to July 30. These burned 

 over a total of about 6,000 acres, of 

 which one of 4,000 and another of 953 

 acres, both on Kern River, did the prin- 

 cipal damage. While the weather con- 

 ditions during the early part of the sea- 

 son greatly reduced the fire danger, the 

 recent reports indicate that it is in- 

 creasing, nearly one-half of all the fires 

 having occurred in the last week re- 

 ported. As yet, however, the damage 

 has not been great, and the fire or- 

 ganization is working splendidly. 



In District 1, which includes Michi- 

 gan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Mon- 

 tana, and northern Idaho, the weather 

 conditions during June were again con- 

 ducive to safety for the forests. The 

 dry weather in the first part of May 

 resulted in a number of small fires, all 

 of which were easily controlled. In 

 these States there is a marked tendency 

 on the part of lumbermen, railroads, and 

 timberland owners to improve the fire 

 situation by taking care of slashings and 

 railroad rights of way. The Northern 

 Pacific Railroad Company has adopted 

 systematic clearing of its rights of way, 

 which will materially lessen the fire 

 hazard. The Great Northern and the 

 Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navi- 

 gation Company have signified their in- 

 tention of doing likewise. The North- 

 ern Pacific has turned over its holdings 

 in northern Idaho within the .National 

 Forests to the protection afforded by 

 the timber protective associations. This 

 will greatly strengthen the protective 

 work in Idaho. 



An agreement between Montana and 

 the Forest Service, now in preparation, 

 provides for the protection of State 

 lands within and contiguous to the For- 

 ests, and relieves the Service of the 

 patrol of districts containing large tracts 

 of State timberland, thus permitting 

 more intensive patrol by the Service in 

 sections hitherto inadequately pro- 

 tected. 



Idaho and Montana are expecting to 

 secure funds under the Weeks law to 

 augment their share in protecting tim- 

 berlands. Altogether, the situation in 

 this District is much improved over 

 previous years. 



The notable success of the Chicago, 

 Milwaukee, and Puget Sound Railway 

 in keeping down forest fire loss is due 

 to the use of oil-burning locomotives. 

 Their adoption by other roads will 

 greatly lessen the fires in any forested 

 country. 



Up to June 20, 38 fires occurred 

 within the National Forests of Michi- 

 gan, Northern Idaho, North Dakota and 

 Montana. These burned over about 

 2,500 acres, of which less than 80 acres 

 were covered with merchantable timber. 

 Twenty of these fires were started by 

 railroad locomotives, 10 by campers, 1 

 from careless brush burning, 1 by in- 

 cendiarism, and the rest were of un- 

 known origin. Since then about the 

 same number of fires, mostly small ones, 

 have been reported ; one, however, 

 covered 331 acres. So far weather con- 

 ditions have been good, yet it is not ex- 

 pected that the whole season will be 

 passed without some considerable losses. 

 Much will depend upon rains and the 

 continued co-operation of the public, 

 especially the campers and the railroads. 



In the central Rocky Mountain re- 

 gion, District 2, a late spring with fre- 

 quent rains has up to the present time 

 been instrumental in holding down fire 

 loss to a gratifyingly small amount. 

 About 50 fires, mostly small ones, have 

 occurred, but the damage has been 

 negligible. 



A grass fire burned over nearly 31,000 

 acres within the Nebraska National 

 Forest, but as is well known, this is 

 in the barren sandhill region and is 

 only prospective timberland, since the 

 most of the Forest is yet to be planted 

 to trees. 



Arizona and New Mexico, in District 

 3, up to the present time have suffered 

 most, except for the crown fire on the 

 Olympic in Washington. Reporting last 

 on July K), the District Forester states 

 that 23G fires have occurred, burning 

 over altogether 46,840 acres, and neces- 

 sitating an expense for fighting them of 

 about $5,000, exclusive of salaries of 

 Forest officers. 



The most serious fire was in the 

 Sitgreaves National Forest, in east- 

 central Arizona, where lightning set a 

 fire which spread lightly over 22,560 

 acres, consuming the forest litter and 



