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Methods of Forest Protection 



Ijumbermeu aud timber owuors in jrcnoral are becoiiiiui; verv 

 much interested in the protection of their holdings from forest 

 lires. It is estimated that ten years ago only about five per cent 

 of the whole wooded area of the country received any attention 

 whatsoever in the matter of fire protection whereas it has been 

 estimated that, at the present time, aproximately fifty per cent 

 of our forests are patrolled or protected, at least in a rough way, 

 from the ravages of the destructive forest fires. This remarkable 

 progress in the matter of looking after our wooded areas is a 

 natural result of the increased value of timberlands which is best 

 indicated by the rise in stumpage values that has taken place in 

 the past twentj' years or more. 



Now we have special associations for the protection of forests 

 from fire, cooperative organiza- 

 tions and even committees of 

 lumber associations appointed to 

 consider and devise the most eflB- 

 cient and satisfactory methods 

 and costs of fire protection. Up 

 to the present time the U. S. 

 Forest Service has been the 

 leader in this work in protect- 

 ing the national forests from fire 

 and in stimulating the adoption 

 of certain protective measures 

 by private owners. Various state 

 forest departments have also 

 been very active in the matter 

 of not only looking after their 

 own reserves but also in coop- 

 erating with lumber companies 

 and timber owners in obtaining 

 the most efficient protection against forest fires. More recently 

 many measures have been adopted to prevent the starting of 

 forest fires in order to reduce the annual fire damage to a minimum 

 by the introduction of special patrol, erection of lookout towers, 

 equipment of locomotives with spark arresters, etc. It is estimated 

 that at least thirty states now have on their statute books effective 

 laws for the protection of both state and private holdings from 

 forest fires. Some states like Minnesota and New York have even 

 gone so far as to require the disposal of brush and slash after 

 logging operations by piling and burning the brush or by lopping 

 the tops and larger branches in order to reduce the fire hazard to 

 the least possible extent. 



LOCATING A 

 GRAPHIC MAP. 



It has been estimated by competent authorities that the direct 

 annual loss resulting from forest fires is at least $.50,000,000, and 

 that in the neighborhood of 20,000,000 acres are burned over every 

 year. It is further believed that had fires been prevented on 

 forest lands that are now unproductive because of these same 

 forest fires, 32,000,000,000 board feet of lumber valued at least at 

 $64,000,000 could now be produced every year on this land. The 

 amount of this loss is equal to eighty per cent of the total yearly 

 lumber cut of the United States. 



Some of the most disastrous forest fires ever recorded are still' 

 remembered by lumbermen in regions most severely attacked by 

 fires. For instance in 1871 the great Peshtigo fire in the vicinity 

 of Green Bay, Wis., resulted in the loss of over 1,000 lives, and 

 400 square miles of territory 

 were burned over. In 1881, a. 

 forest fire in the peninsula be- 

 tween Lake Huron and Saginaw 

 Bay in Michigan burned over an 

 area of 1,000,000 acres. The- 

 famous Hinckley fire in Minne- 

 sota in September, 1894, de- 

 stroyed over $2.5,000,000 worth: 

 of property, nine towns were 

 wiped out, and 600 people were 

 killed. The recent fire of 1910- 

 in Idaho and Montana is too 

 well-known to require descrip- 

 tion; suffice it to say that in 

 the short space of three weeks 

 approximately $25,000,000 worth' 

 of splendid timber was de- 

 stroyed. Numerous other ex- 

 amples could be quoted of some of the more important fires that 

 have occurred within the past decade. 



It is, of course, obvious that our great conflagrations and fire 

 losses occur in the dense timber growth of the Lake States, in the 

 Northwest, and in the Northeast. Maine, Pennsylvania, and New 

 York have all suffered very heavily from fires. Coniferous trees 

 on account of the resinous character of their leaves and bark 

 are especially susceptible to burning. Wherever hardwoods grow 

 by themselves there is not such great danger from crown fires. 

 However, the fact remains that most of our best hardwood stands 

 occur in connection with coniferous timber as for example in' 

 the big hardwood isroducing region of the Lake States, the 



[■IKK BY THE USE OF AN ALIDADE ON A TOPO- 

 NOTE THE 'PHONE WHICH IS USED TO REPORT 

 THE FIRE AND ITS LOCATION. 



A SEVERE GROUND-FIRE SWEPT OVER THIS AREA AND KILLED 

 PRACTICALLY ALL OF THE HARDWOODS. 



FIRE OFTEN WEAKENS THE BASE OF Till: il;i-L -o il 

 RESIST A STRONG WIND. i i 



