232 BURNING OF PASTURE LANDS 



fires, of preventing their rapid spread, and of assisting in their 

 control.^ 



In localities where the livestock industry is well developed 

 and the range is in demand, as, for instance, on the National 

 Forests, the liability of fires is considerably lessened. This is 

 because progressive stockmen realize the detrimental effects of 

 fires and know that burning may not only destroy the forage for 

 the season, probably with heavy financial loss to themselves, 

 but that the carrying capacity of the range in future years will 

 be lowered. Although it may be argued that the presence of the 

 stockmen on the timbered range increases the liability of fires, 

 because of carelessness about the camps, actual experience, as 

 well as statistics gathered from a number of different localities, 

 shows that this increased liability is so small that it can be dis- 

 regarded. On the National Forests, with an area in 192 1 of 

 136,074,266 acres (exclusive of Alaska and Porto Rico), upon 

 which 2,056,644 cattle and 7,412,412 sheep and their lambs 

 were grazed, the presence on the range of a large number of 

 persons interested in the betterment of the forage crop was 

 found to be a distinct advantage. Not only do these men 

 discover and report fires which might otherwise escape notice 

 until a large area had been burned over, but they are a distinct 

 help to the regular protective force in the event of large fires. 



As has been pointed out, the damage caused by burning the 

 range depends largely upon the intensity of the fire. This 

 factor is affected by a number of conditions, one of the most 

 important of which is the amount of inflammable material 

 present. It follows, therefore, that where the forage on any 

 area is fully utilized there will be less danger of fires starting; 

 or, if they do occur, they will have less fuel to feed on and conse- 

 quently will burn more slowly and with less intensity and damage 

 than on areas where the forage is left to '' feed the flames." 

 Observations have shown that this is actually the case. On one 

 of the National Forests in Cahfornia seven fires were started by 

 lightning. Of these, five, which occurred in a country grazed by 



1 Hatton, John H., "Livestock Grazing as a Factor in Fire Protection on the 

 National Forests." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Cir. 134, 1920. 



