92 Forestry Quarterly. 



and is now placed tentatively at 530 billion feet. Sixty-two per 

 cent, of this amount is in the three Pacific Coast States ; twenty- 

 one per cent, in Idaho and Montana ; and twelve per cent, in Ari- 

 zona, Colorado, and New Mexico. 



The report of losses by forest fires does not cover the autumn 

 of 1910, when very destructive fires passed over some of the 

 National Forests. The loss on National Forests during 1909-10 

 was 169,410,000 board feet with an estimated value of $297,275. 

 Eighty-four per cent, of the forest fires were due to lack of pre- 

 ventive care on the part of the users of the forests and the rail- 

 roads traversing them. The latter were especially delinquent. 

 Efforts are being made to eliminate the latter source of danger by 

 patrols, the use of spark arresters on coal and wood-burning loco- 

 motives, and the substitution of oil for other kinds of fuel. The 

 use of oil has proved especially satisfactory because the fire 

 danger from oil-burning locomotives has been proved to be abso- 

 lutely nil. 



The total cut of timber on National Forests was 484,412,000 

 feet, a slight increase over the preceding year. The heaviest cut 

 was in the following states : Montana, Idaho, California, Col- 

 orado, and Arizona. The sales in each state were 40 million feet 

 or over. The number of timber sales reached a total of 5,398, an 

 increase of 418 over the previous year. 



Timber trespass shows a gratifying decrease over previous 

 years, due to the increased efficiency of the force, and improved 

 methods of management. 



Reforestation was pushed vigorously during the year. A total 

 of 9,745 acres were planted or seeded. This work was con- 

 ducted on 106 forests. It is planned to reforest 20,000 acres dur- 

 ing 191 1 ; 40,000 acres in 1912, and to enlarge the operations until 

 150,000 to 200,000 acres annually are covered. 



The year marked the opening of the new forest products 

 laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin. The increased facilities 

 afforded by this laboratory has enabled the Forest Service to 

 broaden its work along investigation lines. 



The report closes with a statement of the plans for the year 

 1910-11 which include the inauguration of the new water power 

 permit system, increased efficiency in fire protection, experi- 

 mental reforestation, etc. R. C. B. 



