A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 



1403 



proved means and methods of fire fighting, and a road-building 

 program which has made for more rapid and certain suppression of 

 fires. As a result of these additional protective measures a very 

 definite reduction in acreage burned has been accomplished during 

 the past 2 years, and the objectives in fire control have been more 

 nearly approached (fig. 3). 



BASIC NEEDS IN A NATIONAL FIRE-CONTROL PROGRAM 



The economic necessity for preventing or controlling forest fires is 

 not yet universally recognized or accepted in all forest regions of the 



LESS THAN 

 ALLOWABLE BURN 



GREATER THAN 

 ALLOWABLE BURN 



NEW 



f TOTAL 



ENGLAND "^CRITICAL 



MIDDLE f TOTAL 

 ATLANTIC |_ CRITICAL 



f TOTAL 

 j_ CRITICAL 



f TOTAL 

 [_ CRITICAL 



f TOTAL 



[CRITICAL 



("TOTAL 

 (^CRITICAL 



(TOTAL 

 CRITICAL 



LAKE 



CENTRAL 



SOUTH 



PACIFIC 



S. ROCKY 



1 CRITICAL 



f TOTAL 



/4:l Yz:\ 3 4.:l 1:1 Z:l 3: I 4:1 5:1 6:1 



RATIO OF AREA BURNED TO ALLOWABLE *BURN (1926 -1930 AVERAGE) 



TOTAL AREA CRITICAL AREA 



FIGURE 3. Relation between average annual burn and allowable burn, on total and critical areas of 

 national forests, by regions. (A ratio of 1:1 or less indicates a satisfactory condition.) 



United States. In the development of the country, the very process 

 of carving homesteads and farms out of the original virgin forest, 

 the subsequent era of timber exploitation with little or no regard for 

 the destructive methods used, and other unregulated use of our 

 forests have all created an unconscious public attitude of disregard 

 for the forest. Fire was used not only as a means of removing slash 

 and debris but also for the more rapid clearing of standing forests. 

 The habit of firing the woods for one reason or another has persisted 

 in many parts of the United States, although the original purpose or 

 need for doing so as a rule no longer exists. The very extensiveness 

 of the original forests created a false assurance of their inexhaustibility. 

 Thus, through 3 centuries there has grown up a public disregard, dis- 



