Forest Resources oj the Pacific Northwest 



47 



rehabilitate these lands, although the State of Wash- 

 ington has a nursery for plantmg on State-owned lands, 

 and a little reforestation has been done by some private 

 owners. 



Much of the unstocked or poorly stocked land is the 

 result of the use of high-powered steam machinerj' in 

 logging. In the early days of the lumber hidustry, 

 logs were pulled to tidewater by bull teams, and since 

 only the best trees were felled, a considerable stand 

 was left which, in most cases, adequately and promptly 

 restocked the land. After steam donkey engines and 

 skidders came into use, vast areas were stripped of their 

 timber, even the unmerchantable trees being knocked 

 down m the course of logging. Under such conditions, 

 particularly if the logguig was followed by repeated 

 fires, the establishment of an adequate number of seed- 

 lings on the land is slow and uncertam. With the 

 advent of the crawler type of tractor has come a form 

 of logging more like that of the daj's of the bull team, 

 for considerable numbers of small and defective trees 

 are left standing, and a prompt and adequate restocking 

 of the land can be expected. This type of logging 

 involves problems in brush disposal which are as yet 

 not satisfactorily solved, and is generally considered 

 inefficient in many situations. But it promises sub- 

 stantial improvement in increasing the regional growth 

 rate. 



The same type of equipment is even more commonly 

 employed m the pine region. Here, the change is less 

 marked, as steam machmery was never extensively 

 used. The combination of tractors and trucks, how- 

 ever, by reducing the investment m railroad building, 

 encourages selective logging and tlie leaving of heavier 

 growing stocks on cut-over lands. 



Decreasing the Losses 



Fire protection has been, in general, reasonably well 

 handled for many years. The national forests, Indian 

 reservations, and national parks, in particidar, have 

 developed excellent sj'stems for prevention, detection, 

 and control. Many private associations have an 

 equally good record. Even the best systems occasion- 

 ally break down, however, under exceptionally severe 

 weather conditions. Some publicly owned timber is 

 inadequately protected or not protected at all, and the 

 private owners do not work with equal efficiency 

 throughout the Region. In particular, those privately 

 owned cut-over lands which are presumably on their 

 way back into public ownership through tax delin- 

 quency may be poorly protected. Idaho, Oregon, 

 and Washington have legislation compelling fire pro- 

 tection, but enforcement often is so difficult that 

 inadequate results are obtained. 



About two-thirds of all forest fires are man-caused. 

 Those that result from logging operations are usually 



taken care of with efficiency, and a substantial pro- 

 portion of the fires that cause the most trouble are due 

 to negligence by the general pubUc rather than by the 

 land owner. The Federal Government has recog- 

 nized that fire prevention on privately owned lands is 

 largely a matter of public responsibilitj' and of national 

 concern, and, through the Clarke-McNary Act, contrib- 

 utes to the protection of private lands on which the 

 owners are already expending substantial sums. The 

 total current national appropriation for this purpose 

 is, however, only $1,655,000 a year. In addition, the 

 Federal Government is contributing materially to fire 

 protection on State and private lands through the 

 Civilian Conservation Corps. Truck and horse trails, 

 lookout houses and towers, telephone fines, fire breaks, 

 and many other types of protective improvements have 

 been built by this organization, which aid hi prompt 

 detection and action on fires; and in addition it has 

 contributed many thousands of hom-s on the fire line 

 m the actual suppression of fires. The lumber industry 

 in the four States of the Region is spending about a 

 million dollars annuaUy for fire protection. In addi- 

 tion, on privately owned lands, the timber owners in 

 recent years have spent about $530,000 a year through 

 the protective associations and special State fire-patrol 

 levies, as compared with $280,000 of direct expenditure 

 by the Federal Government and only $160,000 by the 

 States. 



Improved efficiency in the expenditures of these 

 sums is being sought through research into such mat- 

 ters as the weather conditions mdicating exceptional 

 hazard, the inflammability of various natural fuels, 

 and the technique of fire detection and suppression. 

 Such research has been carried on by the Forest Service 

 and is being continued. 



Less successful have been the efforts to combat the 

 attacks of the several species of insects, particularly 

 the dendroctonus beetles, which have killed billions of 

 feet of timber in the past decade. Efforts of owners 

 have been more sporadic and less well coordiuated 

 than in the case of fire. Teclmical advice on insect 

 control has been given by the United States Bureau of 

 Entomology anil Plant Quarantine. 



A vigorous defense has been organized against the 

 white pine blister rust, the most serious disease men- 

 acuig the Region's forests at the present time, within 

 the white pine territory of northern Idaho and ad- 

 joming portions of Washington and Montana where 

 its menace is greatest. About 60 percent of the area 

 endangered has been given a first treatment through 

 the eradication of the wild currant and gooseberrj' 

 plants which are the alternate hosts of the disease. The 

 Civilian Conservation Corps has done much to aid in 

 combatting this disease, but cannot adeiiuately cover 

 all that needs to be done. Technical direction is 



