10 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



Michigan Forestry Association. 



The Michigan Forestry Association was organized in Grand Rapids August 30, 1905, having for its object the promotion of a rational system 

 of forestry in Michigan. The society is managed by the following roster of officers: President, John H. Bissell, of Detroit; Vice-President, R 

 Hanson, Grayling; Secretary, J. Fred Baker, Lansing; Treasurer, J. J. Hubbell, Manistee. Board of Directors Mrs. Francis King, Aima; Hon. 

 Arthur Hill, Saginaw; S. M. Lemon, Grand Rapids; H. N. Loud, Au Sable; Thos. B. Wyman, Munising; Prof. Filibert Roth, Ann Arbor. 

 The Sta 'e Forestry Commission Charles W. Garfield, Grand Rapids; Hon. W. B. Mershon, Saginaw; William H. Rose, Lansing. 



CARELESSNESS CAUSE 



OF FOREST FIRES 



"Carelessness!" 



In that one word T. Stewart White, one of 

 Michigan's pioneer lumbermen, characterized 

 the cause for the forest fires which, carrying 

 damage and devastation in their wake, have 

 for the last month been sweeping over the 

 northern part of the state and spreading a 

 black pall of smoke over all Michigan. 



"In my observation and experience in the 

 lumber business," said Mr. White in explana- 

 tion of his somewhat startling assertion, "I 

 have_ learned that but two causes can be 

 ascribed to forest fires, lightning and careless- 

 ness. In California and the west, where light- 

 ning is rarely accompanied by rain, the fires 

 are usually occasioned by electrical disturb- 

 ances, as the splendid work of the government 

 forestry service precludes any possibility of 

 their being caused through carelessness. But 

 here in Michigan, where lightning always goes 

 hand in hand with a heavy downpour of rain, 

 the fires originating from this cause are ex- 

 tinguished as soon as they break out, and the 

 only reason for the immense forests being 

 destroyed by fire is carelessness on the part 

 of farmers and lumbermen, who are thought- 

 less about building camp fires in dry weather, 

 or about throwing burning matches on the 

 ground. 



"But it was supposed that the recent fires in 

 the state were caused by sparks from a loco- 

 motive," he was reminded. 



"Even in that case carelessness can be given 

 as the sole cause for the fires. If the owners 

 of timber would take precautions to watch 

 their forests in dry weather, the locomotive 

 sparks would not have an opportunity to gain 

 such headway as to result in a disastrous fire. 



"I remember well one instance in my own 

 experience which will illustrate my point. 

 My son, Stewart Edward White, and myself 

 were on a trip through Nevada during an espe- 

 cially dry season and built a camp fire for 

 the night. We used no tent, and slept only on 

 tarpauline, and with no thought of posssible 

 forest fires we turned in when the fires had 

 slumbered and went to sleep. A large stick 

 remained, however, which had not gone out. 

 A wind arose and blew this ember into a 

 flame, and if my son had not awakened at the 

 crucial moment with the fire creeping up on 

 his blanket, we might have been in the midst 

 of a dangerous fire. 



"Although T have driven through woods that 

 were afire and have had many experiences with 

 forest fires," continued Mr. White, "I was 

 never situated in a dangerous position by 

 reason of them. No one need be caught in 

 a forest fire if, as I say. due carefulness is 

 exercised. The usual methods of preventing 

 the spread of fires are by back fires, and the 

 use of fire brakes or paths of trees through the 

 forest. Back firing is the name given to the 

 process of setting woods afire at some distance 

 from the approaching line of fire and letting 

 the two stretches of flame meet, thus forming 

 a large waste over which the fire cannot burn 

 and preventing it from going further. 



"At other times paths are cleared in the 

 forest some 25 yards wide to prevent the 

 snreading of the fire. These are called fire- 

 breaks. 



"The fires in this section of the country, 

 while perhaps as disastrous as those in the 

 west, are entirely different from the big Cali- 

 fornia and range fires in that they are what 



are known as 'overhead fires,' while west they 

 have almost entirely brush fires, and the flames 

 do not reach into the foliage and destroy the 

 trees as they do in this state. The wind, 

 always a powerful factor in big forest fires, 

 carries the flames up into the tops of the trees 

 here and damages the timber, while in Califor- 

 nia the older trees are not damaged, although 

 the younger growth of course is destroyed. 



"The splendid work of the United States 

 forestry service out west is probably all that 

 saves the timber lands from more disastrous 

 fires. The government keeps a trained force 

 of men at work patrolling the woods on the 

 lookout for fires, and in one case which I 

 remember the men put out 11 fires which were 

 raging at the same time in different parts of 

 California." 



FOREST FIRE DAMAGE. 



Sixteen counties in northwestern Michigan 

 and practically every county in the upper 

 peninsula have suffered from the forest fires 

 this fall. Not a great amount of mature tim- 

 ber was destroyed, but the loss to young 

 growth has been very severe. Michigan per- 

 haps needed the lesson. It is certain that 

 great pressure will be brought to bear upon 

 the next legislature to provide better means for 

 fighting forest fires. The residents of the 

 counties affected by forest fires this fall have 

 been rather apathetic in the past on the subject 

 of better fire protection for forests and cut 

 over lands. They are so no longer, and appar- 

 ently are willing to take off their coats and 

 go to work to get some needed legislation. 

 It is safe to say that the losses in Michigan 

 this year will be a great deal more than 

 $100,000. 



WOULD DO AS MUCH HARM AS GOOD. 



"I notice the suggestion that there should 

 be a law requiring lumbermen to clean up as 

 they go, or, in other words, to clean up their 

 'slashings' by burning them out, as a preven- 

 tive of forest fires. 1 don't want to say that 

 there is no merit in the suggestion, but as in 

 most cases the matter has two sides, as we 

 lumbermen readily can see," says the represen- 

 tative of a big cedar firm operating in the 

 upper peninsula. 



"If you burn out the 'slashings' you burn 

 out everything on the tract of land that has 

 been lumbered over. This means that you 

 clean out all the young growth. Some of it 

 has doubtless been beaten down by felling the 

 big trees and getting the timber out, but 

 much of it is left, and will spring up rapidly. 

 Another thing you do is to burn out the seeds 

 that have fallen into the soil ready to take 

 root, or which may already have taken root. 



"Another danger that exists is the one that 

 by burning over the 'slashings' you will im- 

 poverish the soil. In much of the timber 

 land of the upper peninsula the soil is very 

 light and poor indeed. There are a few inches 

 of muck and decayed vegetable matter on the 

 top of the sand. The burning out of the 

 'slashings' would burn off this coating of soil 

 of comparative richness and uncover the sand, 

 which is a discouraging material in which to 

 expect even the most hardy of plants to grow. 



"It must be conceded that to allow the 

 'slashings' to remain on into the next and the 

 succeeding season does make a fire menace, 

 particularly if they are left scattered about the 

 ground just where the woodsman's ax has been 

 at work. They thus furnish an invitation for 

 a serious fire and one that, once started, is 

 likely to sweep considerable country, but as I 

 have pointed out there is also much damage 



done by burning out the 'slashings' to prevent 

 this evil, so it is an open question which is the 

 best course to pursue." 



The gentleman says that a law has been 

 discussed by lumbermen requiring that a strip 

 of green timber 200 feet in breadth be left 

 along every railroad right-of-way when the 

 adjoining land is lumbered. This precaution 

 would lessen the danger of fires starting from 

 sparks from locomotives. Most of the lum- 

 bermen are favorably impressed with this idea. 



The interest taken in this and kindred mat- 

 ters evidence a growing disposition to realize 

 the importance of less wasteful methods of 

 lumbering, and to show that the agitation the 

 matter has received of late years is beginning 

 to bear fruit. 



FORESTRY OBJECT LESSON. 



The state forester of Massachusetts has 

 begun active work in establishing forest re- 

 serves in that ancient commonwealth. The 

 plan of operations is so interesting as to 

 deserve notice from the point of view of an 

 object lesson. In fact that is what is aimed 

 at by the present activities. 



The selectmen of the 321 towns in the state 

 have been asked to indicate tracts of land for 

 forestration experiment. These tracts are to 

 be secured through the town itself, through 

 local organizations interested in the project, 

 or through the co-operation of individual 

 owners. Already manv such tracts have been 

 designated. 



The state will reforest them and look after 

 them. For this work a small fund of $5,000 

 is available for the first year, with twice that 

 amount annually thereafter. So far as possible 

 the experiments will be tried along main 

 traveled roads where passers-by may see what 

 is being done. 



A plan like this is full of hope. For it means 

 intelligent interest and co-operation on the 

 Dart of many individuals. The destruction of 

 the forests has been going on for years at the 

 lands of individuals and companies. Now 

 that the warning note has been sounded loudly 

 n recent months, there is just a suspicion here 

 and there of the feeling of helplessness. Only 

 the federal government, many think, can un- 

 dertake the great task of reforestation. 



The Massachusetts enterprise, however, 

 suggests the possibilities in movements on a 

 small scale. Towns, or, to use a western 

 term, townships, can help in the necessary 

 work. Individuals and companies can do their 

 part. The efforts now being put forth by the 

 Pennsylvania company to grow trees for its 

 own future use in construction or in adorn- 

 ment of its property have received favorable 

 comment on every side. The possibility of 

 co-operative effort is illustrated by what the 

 state of Wisconsin and the Northwestern rail- 

 road are doing. 



If the feeling becomes a widespread convic- 

 tion that forestry work is essential to the wel- 

 fare of the country the movement for refores- 

 tration will be assured of success. If the in- 

 dividual citizen shows anxiety to have a part 

 in the enterprise the desired end will certainly 

 be attained. From such a viewpoint the Mas- 

 sachusetts experiments have much more than 

 local importance. 



Col. E. T. Carrington has returned to Bay 

 City from a trip over in the Georgian Bay 

 country the other day. He says the mills are 

 all running and times appear to be picking up. 

 He said the docks of lumber are full, but a 

 considerable portion of it is sold and ship- 

 ments are now being made. 



