Light Burning vs. Forest Management. 185 



dry branches, brush, weeds, and reproduction, in order to im- 

 prove the pasture ; or sometimes to make travel through the 

 woods easier, or to drive out the game. This is the so-called 

 Indian method of "light-burning;" this object was not forest pro- 

 tection, it was far from that, it was forest devastation pure and 

 simple. Like all pioneers, his object was to destroy the forests so 

 that he could make the soil serve his purposes. There is ample evi- 

 dence all over California that the Indian succeeded in accomplish- 

 ing his purpose. These "light-burns" often developed into disas- 

 trous conflagrations, and 2,000,000 acres of useless brush in this 

 State alone bear witness to this fact. 



The fire was set for reasons mentioned above, and as a re- 

 sult traveHng was much easier. Unfortunately this did not 

 remain so, for the next spring the brush sprouted more vigorously 

 than ever ; it had not been killed, it had not only been killed back. 

 In three or four years the Indians set another fire, which since 

 it had the dry stems and dry leaves of the last fire to feed on, 

 was hotter than the one before. So the process continued, each 

 fire was hotter than the one before. Each fire killed the seed- 

 lings, and each fire caused the unsuppressable chaparral to come 

 up more vigorously than before. Each fire found its way into 

 one or two of the larger trees, through a lightning scar, a frost 

 crack, or through the roots. This scar was not serious at first 

 but each successive fire enlarged it, until the tree was under- 

 mined and fell. Even though only occasionally a tree fell, there 

 was no young growth to take its place, so that the extinction 

 of the forest was only a matter of years. All stages of this 

 destruction can be seen in California, and the result told in figures 

 is surprising to say the least. The direct economic loss to the 

 state of California may be summed up briefly as follows : 



1. 2,000,000 acres of brush, the larger part of which can 

 be traced back to the old Indian fires. These areas instead 

 of growing timber worth from $50 to $100 per acre, are 

 occupied by useless brush, of very little value as browse. 



2. The remaining forests are greatly thinned out as a 

 result of these fires. It has been estimated that these fires 

 have reduced the merchantable stand of timber by about 

 1-3. The 30,000 square miles of forest lands in California have 

 an actual cash value of $700,000,000. How much more these 



