92 Conservation of Natural Resources in California. 



And there is in a class by itself FIRE. 



On the California National Forests the stand of live timber is esti- 

 mated at 110 billion feet. It is worth approximately $250,000,000 as 

 timber, to say nothing of its incalculable value to the Californians as a 

 protection to the watersheds of the State. During four months of the 

 year (on the average) these forests are menaced by fire. The biggest 



A fire lane in the southern California mountains. A strip fifty feet 

 wide is grubbed out through the tall brush straight across the foothills, 

 to check the progress of fires. In the foreground a bit of the lane is 

 seen at close range, with a trail in the middle. 



present problem of the Service is to protect the forests from this 

 hazard. Two hundred and eighty thousand dollars, or about one half 

 of the total appropriation for the California District of the United 

 States Forest Service, is spent annually in maintaining the Service 

 organization for fire defense. This is a great sum to pay for insurance, 

 but it is necessary and it is not disproportionate when one considers 



