A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1645 



bearers, as well as for birds and^game, and by killing them outright, 

 do tremendous damage to this important resource. Similarly graz- 

 ing values are affected adversely. Biologists tell us that it takes 

 many years to again grow the lichens or reindeer moss, so important 

 to the reindeer industry as well as big game, after it has been burned. 



The interior forest has a high fire risk and losses have been heavy. 

 The annual precipitation is less than 16 inches and the forest becomes 

 very dry during the short warm summer of almost continuous day- 

 light. All fires are man made. Lightning is not a menace. An 

 estimate of the area burned and the damage done can be little more 

 than a guess as no field studies have ever been made, but according 

 to the general observations of those who know the country, enormous 

 areas of both forest and tundra have been burned over in the past 

 30 years and the yearly losses are still very heavy. 



From the early gold-rush days the great majority of the local 

 inhabitants has been at best apathetic regarding fire but the last 5 

 years have been a small but growing sentiment in favor of protection, 

 owing in large part to a greater appreciation of fire damage to such 

 natural resources as big game, fur bearers, reindeer forage, and game 

 birds, and to a realization of the extra cost and inconvenience experi- 

 enced when a local supply of timber for settlement and industry has 

 been wiped out. The dissatisfaction of tourists over the screening 

 of the scenery with a heavy pall of smoke has also been a factor. A 

 campaign of educational work could likely extend and strengthen 

 this sentiment very easily. Owing to the small population almost 

 every local inhabitant could be reached in person. 



The interior forest has practically no fire protection.. The General 

 Land Office of the Department of the Interior spends a few thousand 

 dollars yearly on suppression and the Government-owned Alaska 

 Railroad gives attention to prevention and suppression of fire on 

 its right of way but further than this nothing is done by the Federal 

 Government, Territory, or other public agency, or by private corpora- 

 tions. There are no organized detection and suppression forces, no 

 intensive and systematic educational work is being done, and no 

 survey is made of fire losses. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



The great bulk of the timber of the coast forest is included in the 

 national forest system and is so administered as to keep the lands 

 continuously productive and provide a sustained yearly output of 

 timber products. The only changes which need to be made are those 

 common to all national forests. 



A satisfactory fire prevention, detection, and suppression organiza- 

 tion is needed on the interior forest and tundra lands. This should 

 be established by the Federal Government, as the owner of the public 

 domain, which includes virtually all the land of the region. The 

 protective organization could be small in comparison with the area 

 to be covered due to a scant population and the fact that all fires are 

 man made. Good cooperation at little expense could be furnished 

 by representatives of various branches of the Federal Government 

 who are stationed at many places throughout the region. 



As a basis for establishing a fire-protection system an extended field 

 study should be made of the problem. This should cover such fea- 

 tures as: (1) The extent and value of forest and tundra resources in 



