FOREST FIRES A NATIONAL PROBLEM 



681 



(Courtesy U. S. Air Service) 



COOPERATION IN FIRE CONTROL FROM THE AIR 



Flying at an altitude of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, the airplane patrol on the Pacific Coast last year "spotted" 1632 lorest fires 



and rendered invaluable assistance to the Forest Service. 



there is hardly a State in the Union that can boast of hav- 

 ing attained adequate protection standards, and many 

 more are very far from it. Yet every State has some 

 kind of forest fire laws among its statutes, and 33 of them 

 have passed legislation calling for greater or less activi- 

 ties along forestry lines, but not necessarily fire protec- 

 tion. During the last year, however, the law makers in 

 many States have awakened to the fact that fire and the 

 forestry problem are national matters in which every 



commonwealth, regardless of whether it produces timber 

 or not, is vitally interested. 



Our forestry problem is national in scope because it 

 has to do with a product of the land that is essential to all 

 business development. It is out of the question to think 

 of making all timbered lands over into Federal National 

 Forests, because of the large holdings already in private 

 ownership. On the other hand, we will fall far short of 

 the mark if the matter of timber production is left en- 



