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JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



sale, but the recommendation was not approved by Washington. But 

 by using ranger labor for burning brush, the first timber sale fire lines 

 had been constructed on the first Saginaw and Manistee in 1906— the 

 brush being burned without damage in the spring just before the snow 

 had entirely melted and while the ground was still soft. 



To intelligently review the district fire instructions (quoted by 

 Chapman) my comment has been placed opposite the paragraph dis- 

 cussed : 



D. 3 — Instructions. 



"All brush shall be thrown or re- 

 moved to a distance of 10 feet or 

 more from the nearest living tree of 

 a commercial species. For trees with 

 live crowns extending to within to 

 feet of the ground, this distance shall 

 be measured from a point directly 

 below the outer edge of crown. For 

 trees whose live crowns are higher 

 than 15 feet, it shall be measured 

 from the bole, provided that brush 

 need not be moved more than 25 feet 

 to attain this result. Where the close 

 spacing of trees does not permit the 

 brush to be placed at a distance of 10 

 feet from living trees by moving it 

 25 feet, it shall be removed as far as 

 possible from the boles of living 

 trees, and shall, in all cases, be re- 

 moved at least 10 feet from the 

 crowns of trees over 12 inches in 

 diameter, even when such trees are 

 standing within groups of smaller 

 trees." 



"On fire lines all brush resulting 

 from logging must be piled and 

 burned. Logs, down timber, and 

 dead tops, or other inflammable ma- 

 terial whose presence would tend to 

 render the fire line ineffective, shall 

 be burned, though logs and down 

 timber, except tops, may be skidded 

 off the fire line instead. 



Comment. 



Are not these instructions rather 

 complicated and involved? There 

 appears to be need for revision and 

 simplification. Would the instruc- 

 tions be simple and clear to the aver- 

 age lumber executive? 



Is it practicable or necessary to 

 burn^or skid "down timber, and dead 

 tops" which would probably have to 

 be cut into shorter lengths before 

 skidding? It seems inconsistent to 

 require the foregoing operation and 

 not to require "the removal of ordi- 

 nary forest litter." The fire Hne aims 

 at stopping a general conflagration. 



