MICHIGAN RCADS AND FORESTS 



The Forest Fire Problem of Michigan 



As Exemplified on the David Ward Estate 



By Wesley Bradfield, Forest Assistant, and Athol A. Wynne, Lumberman. 



,<Q>HH 



report presents the study of a for- 

 fire problem of 1908 on a specified 

 tract of timberland, and shows the con- 

 ditions which existed prior to the fires of 

 October 17, the character and extent of the 

 fires, their behavior with respect to slashings, 

 fire lines, or wagon roads, the amount of 

 damage done, and the suggestion of a plan 

 for the future fire protection of the tract. It 

 shows that if a number of the old railroad 

 grades had been kept clean and used as fire 

 lines, in connection with the numerous wagon 

 reads that run through the tract, and that if 

 a system of patrol had been employed during 

 the danger season, the amount of damage done 

 by the fires which entered the tract from 

 various points would have been comparatively 

 slight, and that the cost of protection would 

 have been fully warranted on account of the 

 value of property that would have been 

 saved. 



Location and Area of Tract. 



The timberland of the David Ward Estate, 

 with the exception of what is known as the 

 Alba tract, a few miles to the northwest of 

 the main tract, is an almost unbroken tract 

 in parts of Otsego, Crawford, Kalkaska and 

 Antrim counties, on the headwaters of the 

 Manistee, Jordan and Au Sable rivers, of 

 Michigan. 



The map accompanying this report applies 

 to an area of. 188,000 acres, which includes, 

 besides the David Ward Estate, a number of 

 ether holdings that -adjoin the estate or lie 

 within its boundaries. Of the total area, 35 

 per cent is in slashings, 57 per cent is in 

 virgin timberlands, and 8 per cent is in cleared 

 or partially cleared farms. A little more 

 than half of this total area is owned by the 

 David Ward Estate, of which 70 per cent 

 bears a mixed stand of hardwoods and hem- 

 lock, 16 per cent is in slashings, 13 per cent 

 bears a white pine forest, and 1 per cent is 

 in farms. 



Before lumbering operations began, about 

 20,000 acres were covered with a magnificent 

 stand of white pine, and many of the trees 

 were five feet in diameter and from 170 to 

 185 feet in height. The forest also contained 

 excellent stands of red pine, hemlock, maple, 

 elm, birch, basswood, beech, cedar, tamarack 

 and black cherry. 



Lumbering Operations. 



In lumbering, the pines were removed first. 

 During subsequent operations, cedar, hemlock 

 and hardwoods have also been removed from 

 various noncontiguous areas, and in varying 

 amounts. While it is impossible to estimate 

 the amount of timber which has been cut from 

 the tract up to the present time, it is likely 

 from the data secured that approximately 

 11.0(10 acres, located in five townships, have 

 been cut over. The estimates of the remain- 



ing timber on the whole tract vary from 

 si. 1 :,. 000,000 to 1,025,000,000 feet board measure. 

 Of this amount maple forms approximately 

 35 per cent, hemlock 30 per cent, elm 13 per 

 cent, birch 5 per cent, beech 5 per cent, pine 

 6 per cent, basswood 3 per cent, cedar 2 per 

 cent and other species 2 per cent. 



Where no cuttings have been made, the 

 forest is fully stocked either with excellent 

 stands of clear, straight and mature hard- 

 woods, hemlock and pine, or with magnificent 

 stands of younger trees of all ages, which, 



Illustration No. 1 



Abandoned White Pine Logs. Tree in Fore-ground Estimated 

 to Contain 6,500 Feet Before it was Damaged by Fire 



from the point of view of forest management, 

 needs only to be carefully thinned. Where 

 there had been no repeated surface fires up 

 to the summer of 1908, and wherever seed 

 trees have been left, whether in the original 

 or cut-over forests, there was excellent repro- 

 duction. On the whole, conditions were very 

 satisfactory for maintaining a productive 

 forest. 



The principal object in lumbering has been 

 the removal of the white pine, the greater 

 part of which was in the center of the tract. 

 Yet more or less white pine is scattered 

 throughout the stands of hardwood and hem- 

 lock. 



Bad Lumbering Methods. 



The lumbering methods that have prevailed 

 can be judged by the character of the timber 

 left standing, quantity of merchantable ma- 

 terial which was left on the ground, the man- 

 ner in which timber is now being cut, and 

 the careless disposition of slash. In the fall 

 of 1908 these points were noted: 



There were seventy-six cork or white pine 

 logs on W. y* of N. E. y^ of bee. 21, T. 29 N., 

 R. 5 W., nearly all of which were 16 feet 

 long. These were cut in 1907 and left in 

 the woods. It was roughly estimated that 

 each of these logs contained an average of 

 750 feet board measure. There were four 

 breaks in each of two very large white pine 

 trees, one of which had been felled across 

 the other at nearly right angles. This may 

 be seen in illustration Xo. 1. 



A number of cut and abandoned white pine 



trees were found in Sections 1 and 12, T. 29 N., 

 R. 5 W., lying on the ground in a cedar swamp 

 within a few rods of the upland. The diame- 

 ter of two of these trees 64 feet from the 

 stump was 18J/2 inches outside the bark. On 

 Section 12, which had been reported cut over, 

 the following standing and merchantable 

 down timber was found: 100,000 feet of cut 

 and down cork pine which had not been re- 

 moved and which had probably been there 

 -four or five years; 12,000 ties, a large part of 

 which were partially manufactured and aban- 

 doned; 1,650 telephone poles; 80,000 feet of 

 down and standing cedar shingle timber; 250 

 cords of spruce, and 2,900 cords of wood. 

 Some parts of the cedar had been removed, 

 and the rest seemed to be practically aban- 

 doned. The stu'mpage prices of this class of 

 material are as follows: Cedar ties, 20 cents 

 each; white pine, $18 per thousand feet; 

 spruce, $1 per cord; shingle timber, $4 per 

 thousand feet, and cordwood, 40 cents per 

 foot. At these prices the value of the wasted 

 timber was $5,930. 



Because of the careless methods 'used in 

 felling timber on Sections 25 and 26, T. 30 N., 

 R. 5 W., a large number of the pine trees 

 were broken. In the hardwoods, fully 20 per 

 cent of the value of the stand was wasted or 

 left on the ground. This material included 

 logs, heading, bolts, staves, and ties, in addi- 

 tion to a large quantify of marketable wood. 



In T. 30 N., R. 6 W., no attention was paid 

 to the disposal or piling of slash, and much 

 of it was thrown into the edges of heavy, 

 uncut stands of hardwood timber. In the 

 E. y 2 of S. W. 1/4, Sec. 22 the cutting was 

 very wasteful, and many trees which should 

 have been cut, and logs, skids, heading bolts 

 and wood were abandoned. The slash con- 



illustration No. 2 

 Practically the Whole Stand was Felled by One Cutting 



tained wood estimated at 12 cords per acre. 



An immense amount of slash was left in 

 S. W. 'xi of S. W. % of Sec. 27, T. A-9 N., 

 R. 4 W., along the Detroit & Charlevoix right 

 of way, and a large number of hardwood logs 

 had been on the ground more than a year in 

 other sections. Near Camp 12, in this same 

 township, there were very heavy windfalls 

 of old white pines. A large part of the origi- 

 nal stand of magnificent white pine was lying 

 on the ground partly cut into logs, and there 

 was a large proportion of waste in this down 

 timber through decay. Roads were being 

 made to facilitate logging operations, but the 

 work was recent, and the principal cuttings 



