94 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



than $3,200; in 1911 the corresponding? cost was $56,000. On the 

 only Forest in this district for which figures of loss this year have 

 reached me, 42 fires have occasioned an estimated loss of $30, where 

 in 1910, 17 fires occasioned a loss estimated at $151,500. 



While the results of the past summer are gratifying, it must not 

 be assumed that the protective organization is yet able to cope suc- 

 cessfully with a repetition of the climatic conditions which occurred 

 in 1910. The inadequacy of the system of communication is its great- 

 est weakness. There have been completed on the National Forests 

 the equivalent of 1.29 miles of trail and 1.04 miles of telephone line 

 to each township of 36 square miles. This means that if all the 

 trails were laid off on straight lines running parallel to each other, 

 without detours or cross connections, they would still be about 28 

 miles apart, while the telephone lines if similarly located would be 

 35 miles apart. Of course the system of communications built by the 

 Forest Servdce is supplemented by roads, trails, and telephone lines 

 which are the result of community and private enterprise; but the 

 fact remains that great parts of the National Forests are most indif- 

 ferently provided with improvements. Ten miles of trail and six 

 of telephone line in the average township represent the approximate 

 system needed for efficient protection. The construction of about 

 eight times the present mileage of telephone line is therefore necessary 

 to safeguard the National Forests adequately. 



A remarkable development of public sentiment regarding forest 

 fires has taken place. In this field, also, the fires of 1910 proved a 

 great lesson. Belief on the part of a portion of the public that forest 

 fires are either inevitable or of little importance has been replaced by 

 a keen realization of the necessity for adopting safeguards against 

 them and for putting them out. One result of this awakened and 

 healthy sentiment has been more exacting demand for a high standard 

 of protection of the National Forests. Fires which would previously 

 have attracted little or no attention now receive wide newspaper 

 notice and comment. The gain along this line has been enormous. 

 It means, of course, public criticism if fires are not effectively con- 

 trolled; nor is this a misfortune, for a public demand that a high 

 standard of administration shall be maintained is in itself a safe- 

 guard ; but it means also diminution of carelessness, better laws, and 

 more general efforts to combat forest fires everywhere. 



The growth of sentiment is reflected in the increased desire on the 

 yjart of timberland owners, railroads, and business enterprises of all 

 kinds conducting operations on or near the Forests to cooperate with 

 the Forest Service in fire protection. The efforts of the railroads 

 which run through the Forests to reduce to a minimum the danger 

 of fires along their lines, through clearing their rights of way, pre- 

 venting the discharge of sparks and the dropping of live coals, and 



