MICHIGAN RCADS AND FORESTS 



were in vigorous growing stands of young 

 white pine. 



The present method of lumbering was seen 

 on the S. E. V 4 of the S. E. ;4 of Sec. 25, 

 T. 30 N., R. 5 W. That is also shown in 

 illustrations 2 and 3. The entire stand of 

 young white pine was felled so that all the 

 trees were thrown on top of one another, and 

 many logs were badly broken. As a rule, 

 every tree was cut into sixteen-foot lengths 

 regardless of these breaks. If the remaining 

 parts of the broken trees happened to be 

 short, odd lengths, they were left on the 



Illustration No. 3 

 How the Timber was Broken by This Method 



ground or dragged out of the way into the 

 piles of slash. 



A hemlock tree about 26 inches in diameter 

 was felled in N. E. y 4 of N. W. '4 of Section 

 :;ij. T. UO X., R. 5 W. squarely across a large 

 > tu nip about fourteen feet distant. In cutting 

 the tree into logs, no attention was paid to 

 this break, and the first cut was made six- 

 teen feet from the butt of the tree and the 

 other cuts at equal distances throughout its 

 length. 



These examples arc typical of the past and 

 present methods of lumbering, and whatever 

 the reason may be, the carelessness of the 

 methods employed is evident and the amount 

 of waste is wholly unwarranted. 



There arc seventy miles of logging rail- 

 roads, abandoned or in use at the present time, 

 connected with the main line of the D. & C. 

 railroad. Their position with reference to the 

 cut-over and timbered lands is clearly shown 

 on the map. The length of the main line 

 of the D. & C. railroad, which lies within 

 the boundaries of the estate is estimated at 

 twenty-six miles. There are also a number 

 of township and private wagon roads through- 

 nut the tract. 



Fire Protection Previous to 1908. 



Previous to 1908 practically no provisions 

 had been made through the construction of 

 fire lines for fire protection on either the cut- 

 over or timbered lands. During the forest fire 

 season of 1908, however, a number of tempo- 

 rary fire lines were hastily made in different 

 parts of the tract to assist in the immediate 

 fighting of fire. Some of these lines were 

 effective in arresting the fire at a few local 

 points. A large amount of slash and inflam- 

 mable material was found along the greater 

 part of the right of way of the D. & C. rail- 

 road. Some of this slash had no doubt been 

 lying on the ground for at least two years, 



and no attempts had been made to get rid 

 of it. 



Forest Fires in 1908. 



The presence of the inflammable material 

 along the railroad, the slash and debris on 

 adjoining lands, and the presence of the same 

 conditions on the cut-over lands of the David 

 Ward Estate, together with the extraordinary 

 dry season of that year, allowed the forest 

 fires of October 17 to sweep practically un- 

 hindered across the timberlands of the David 

 Ward Estate. The causes which made all the 

 separate surface and crown fires converge in 

 crossing the estate into one large fire are not 

 definitely known. It seems clear, however, 

 that some of the fires were started by the 

 engines of the D. & C. railroad, others by 

 farmers attempting to" clear the land, one 

 from an old hemlock stump which was set 

 on fire by a party of fern pickers, while other 

 fires came from the adjoining lands and were 

 a part of the general forest fires which ran 

 unchecked throughout the various counties in 

 the region. 



The fires which did the greatest damage 

 entered the tract from the southwest and 

 swept forward in a general northeasterly 

 direction. These were known as the Deward, 

 Blue Lake, Sand Lake and Starvation Lake 

 fires. Their general directions are indicated 

 on the map by arrows. The Mancelona fires 

 entered Township 29 N., R. 5 W., from the 

 west, followed the Mancelona road, one on 

 each side, for two or three miles, until they 

 came together on the eastern side of the 

 township and joined with the fires which 

 came from the southwest. The Alba fire, 

 which entered the same township from the 



Careless Felling of Large Hemlock Tree 



northwest, was only a light surface fire until 

 it entered the slashing on Section 4 and then 

 turned in a northeasterly direction. Several 

 small fires entered T. 30 N., R. 6 W. from 

 the northeast, north and northwest, and were 

 stopped by the tributaries of the Jordan river, 

 which has its headwaters in this township. 



The southwest fires did the greatest dam- 

 age, as they almost immediately entered the 

 slashings under a very strong southwest wind 

 and followed these slashings through the cen- 

 ter of the tract. The most severe timber kill- 

 ing was at the following general points: 

 Where slash was thrown into the edges of 

 standing timber; where only a part of the 

 stand was cut and the slash left on the 

 ground; where the humus was from four to 



eight inches deep in the burned-over areas; 

 individual cases where old logs or other debris 

 lay close to valuable timber trees; and where 

 there were no natural barriers, such as wagon 

 roads, streams, or hills to check the uniformly 

 rapid progress of the fires. Even the usually 

 wet swamps were dried out su.-.ciently, in 

 some instances, to permit the complete de- 

 struction of the vegetable matter to a depth 

 of from eight to twelve inches. Some of 

 these points may be clearly seen on the map 

 by noting the percentage of the standing tim- 

 ber killed on the western edge of and the 



Typical Old Railroad Grade 



green timber in the center and northern part 

 of T. 29 N., R. 5 W., in the northern part 

 of T. 30 N., R. 6 W., and in the hardwood 

 stands in T. 30 N., R. 4 W. 



In many instances hardwood trees showed 

 little indication of fire damage, even at the 

 base. But the humus had been burned away, 

 and the roots which lay near the surface of 

 the ground had been burned, so that a careful 

 examination, aided by a removal of the bark, 

 proved that most of the trees had been killed 

 and the cambium layer scorched brown to a 

 height of several feet. Unless a careful exami- 

 nation is made in each case it is exceedingly 

 difficult to determine how much of the hard- 

 wood timber was actually killed by the fire. 



The more severe fires were marked by a 

 number of singular phases: The fire changed 

 its course as it met various openings in the 

 forest; the flames often leaped ahead, leaving 

 small patches of timber only slightly damaged; 

 there was practically complete destruction of 

 green stands of hardwood timber; often the 

 surface fires and even the heavy crown fires 

 were turned aside by a narrow wagon road. 

 A hunting camp in the center of the severest 

 fires, on the S. E. % of Section 14, T. 29 N., 

 R. ^ W., was saved by an old railroad grade 

 which lay southwest of the camp. This old 

 grade had been cleared for a short distance 

 to serve as a fire line, and this line of itself 

 turned aside a heavy crown fire in a young 

 pine stand. The fire, however, managed to 

 cross the grade in the same growth above the 

 cleared point, and the camp was eventually 

 saved only by making, on the other borders 

 of the camp, a temporary narrow fighting 

 line, from which a back fire was set. Imme- 

 diately adjacent to and outside of this tempo- 

 rary line about three-fourths of the timber was 

 killed by the back fire to a distance of thirty 

 rods, but beyond this, where the main fire 

 passed, all of the standing young pine and 



