600 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The Saw 



In History 



Once upon a time. 

 A man wanted to make. 

 Two pieces of board. 

 Out of one piece. 

 The thing he used. 

 To work with was. 

 The first saw. 

 It was the nose. 

 Of a fish. 



Would you care to read about it? If so, write us for " Ijhe 

 Saw in History. " It is a sixt^-five page book, completely illustrated. 

 We will send it to you free of charge. Address your letter to 

 T>epartment S. 



Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. 



Philadelphia, U. S. A. 



RESOLUTIONS FOR 



'T' HE Utah Academy of Sciences in 

 resolutions states: "It is recognized 

 that the timber supply of the nation is 

 rapidly becoming depleted; 



"The forest resources are of the great- 

 est importance in the economic and in- 

 dustrial development of Utah and of the 

 entire nation; 



"The maintenance of proper forest con- 

 ditions on important watersheds is con- 

 ducive to a regular and continued stream 

 flow and an adequate supply of pure water 

 so essential for domestic, hydro-electric 



THE SNELL BILL 

 and irrigation use; 



"Be it resolved, That the Utah Acad- 

 emy of Sciences strongly endorses the 

 conservation of forests to the extent of 

 maintaining all potential forest land in a 

 highly productive condition. With this 

 purpose in view, we, therefore, strongly 

 urge the adoption of a national forest 

 policy for the entire nation similar to that 

 picposed in H. R. 15,327, introduced in 

 the third session of the 66th Congress, 

 commonly known as the 'Snell Bill.' " 



CARELESS TOURISTS START DE- 

 STRUCTIVE FOREST FIRES 



Because of the war, Germany lost about 

 2i,S47i520 acres of land exclusive of pleb- 

 iscites. This was undoubtedly a serious na- 

 tional misfortune to Germany. The Unit- 

 ed States, during the period 1916-1920, in- 

 clusive, burned up 56,488,307 acres of our 

 forested area over 2j4 times as much as 

 Germany's entire loss an area greater than 

 New York and Pennsylvania combined, or 

 of Minnesota, Kansas, Idaho, or Utah. 



While it is impossible to trace the origin 

 of all forest fires, the records of the Forest 

 Service of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture show that a large number 

 originate through the carelessness of hap- 

 py-go-lucky tourists. The Forest Service is 

 anxious to encourage the use of the Nation- 

 al Forests as recreation grounds. It co- 

 operates with plans for building fine roads 

 through the forests, and establishes numer- 

 ous free camping grounds, where shelter, 

 water, and firewood may be obtained. Many 

 of these camps are located on main auto- 

 mobile highways and are easily reached. 

 Some States provide tourist guide maps to 

 the forests and camp sites. About 5,000,000 

 "^cple, it is estimated, use the forests each 

 year during the vacation season. At Eagle 

 Camp Ground on the Columbia River High- 

 way in the Oregon National Forest, 132,- 

 JOO tourists registered last year. 



Some of the campers, however, do not 

 seem to appreciate the pleasures and priv- 

 ileges afforded to the touring public. They 

 disfigure the scenery with rubbish and filth, 

 they disregard game laws and pollute 

 streams, but their worst and most frequently 

 recurring oflfense, according to forest offi- 

 cers, is the starting of destructive fires by 

 carelessness either with camp fires or with 

 smoking. 



A lighted cigarette thrown into dry leaves 

 or needles, may start a fire that will spread 

 for miles. A camp fire not fully extinguish- 

 ed may be the means of destroying valuable 

 timber which has taken hundreds of years 

 to reach maturity. The reports of forest 

 rangers are filled with dramatic accounts 0/ 

 the work involved in controlling such fires, 

 and also in detecting and bringing the cul- 

 prits before a judge after following the very 

 slight clues obtainable in a deserted camp 

 site. Sometimes an old bottle or a pocket 

 handkerchief will reveal the original pos- 

 sessor who did not put out his fire. Some- 

 times a particular make of automobile tire 

 can be traced for miles and the careless 

 camper brought to justice. 



No fines, however, on the part of the lo- 

 cal magistrate, will restore the burned area. 

 While forest rangers are vigilant and alert 

 to catch carelessness and prevent incipient 

 fires, the real need, the foresters say, is for 

 the development of more conscience on the 

 part of the public which uses the National 

 Forests. It is greatly desired by the Forest 

 Service that all the 147 National Forests, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from 



