444 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



burned over in the west, and 6J/2 billion board feet of timl)er. valued 

 at nearly 15 million dollars, was lost. 



The Secretary of Agriculture has requested the Secretary of the 

 JNavy to detail hydroplanes for an air survey of the storm-swept region 

 in order that the amount of damage may be determined, since it is im- 

 possible to traverse the uprooted forests on the ground. A request 

 has also been made to the Secretary of War that the railroad con- 

 structed by the Spruce Production Corporation, extending from Port 

 Angeles to Lake Pleasant on the Olympic Peninsula, be equipped with 

 rolling stock and operated at its maximum capacity. This railroad is 

 the one important line of communication into the devastated area, and 

 will afford a means of salv^aging a considerable amotint of the down 

 timber. 



The Secretary of Agriculture has transmitted to the Secretary of 

 the Treasury an estimate to be submitted to Congress for an emergency 

 appropriation of $100,000 to enable the Department to employ patrol- 

 men to guard the storm area against fire, to repair and construct roads, 

 trails, telephone lines and other means of communication, and to 

 salvage Government timber. Governor Louis F. Hart of Washington, 

 it is reported, will also ask the State Legislature for an emergency 

 appropriation of $100,000 to open up the country and co-operate with 

 private owners and the Federal Government in intensive fire protection. 



Grazing and Firf Control 



It is the unanimous opinion of the Investigative Committee of the 

 Pacific Northwest that properly regulated grazing is a large, if not the 

 largest, single controllable factor which is operating to reduce the fire 

 hazard. 



Comparison between the ungrazed area m the Fort Rock Ranger 

 District on the Deschutes and the contiguous grazed Silver Lake 

 Ranger District on the Fremont is striking. On the former area the 

 estimated fire damage and suppression costs for the last seven years 

 total over a third of a million dollars, while on the latter it is estimated 

 to be less than $4,000 for the same period. Timber cover, topography 

 and climate are very similar on the two areas, but the Fort Rock Dis- 

 trict is unwatered, hence ungrazed. Here water development for range 

 stock is the answer. 



