600 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the protection system of roads and trails, much of which has already 

 been built. There should also be an annual appropriation of $465,000 

 for the construction of other improvements, such as telephone lines, 

 lookout houses, etc., and $315,000 for maintenance of such improve- 

 ments. Beginning with the fiscal year 1935 there should be an appro- 

 priation of $80,000 for additional fire guards to compensate for the 

 loss of the fire-protection services of road, trail, and improvement 

 crews withdrawn as construction work is completed. This item 

 should be built up by approximately equal steps each year for the 

 ensuing 7 years, to reach $625,000 annually coincident with the com- 

 pletion of the road, trail, and improvement construction program. 



This will result in an estimated eventual average annual protection 

 cost of $6,515,000 compared with the present average cost of $5,438,- 

 000. Per acre of protected land the eventual cost is estimated at 

 $0.06853 against a present average cost of $0.0572. 



The foregoing figures represent merely the best present forecast. 

 The only proof of effectiveness of outlay is experience. Further 

 hindsight may well indicate a revision of these estimates either up 

 or down. 



FOREST INSECTS 



Destruction of timber by bark beetles is not spectacular like destruc- 

 tion by fire, but in several national-forest regions loss of merchantable 

 timber from this cause is far greater than by fire. In the pine forests 

 of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana losses have 

 been heavy. Forest entomologists estimate that about 250 million 

 board feet of timber is being killed annually by bark beetles in the 

 California National Forests alone. During the past 10 years, billions 

 of feet of national-forest timber have been killed by concentrated 

 attacks of these insects, with almost no opportunity for salvage before 

 rapid deterioration renders the timber unfit for use. 



Where timber values are low and promise to be so for some time, 

 as in the case of some of the lodgepole pine stands attacked by the 

 beetle, it is debatable whether the cost of control is justified. In the 

 higher value western white, ponderosa, and sugar pine, control 

 measures developed in cooperation with the Bureau of Entomology 

 are worthwhile. Because the loss from insects goes on so quietly it 

 has been much less easy to focus public attention on it than on fire 

 losses, and to obtain adequate appropriations for control measures. 

 What is needed is a flexible fund like that used for fire suppression which 

 will enable control action to be undertaken promptly when the need 

 arises, as it often does quite suddenly. The next best thing would be 

 an annual appropriation of at least $200,000, to be used if needed, in 

 place of the approximately $100,000 appropriation such as was made 

 for the fiscal year 1933. Apart from this, the Bureau of Entomology 

 should have added funds for research into the habits of the insects 

 and the most effective means of control. 



The more spectacular losses caused by defoliators, such as the hem- 

 lock looper, occur much less frequently, give little or no advance 

 warning, and are extremely difficult to control, though dusting with 

 insecticides from airplanes may offer substantial possibilities. To 

 meet emergencies arising from sudden attacks of this sort, the flexible 

 fund is especially important, particularly for further experimental 

 efforts of control. 



