FIRES ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



49 



comparable with those of the western forests. Favorable 

 progress in purchases was made during the past year. 



"Forest products investigations, which at their initia- 

 tion were ignored by the forest industries of the coun- 

 try, have through the demonstration of their benefits 

 permeated the forest industries almost without exception 

 and have given an entirely new conception of the pos- 

 sibihties in the conservation, manufacture and utiliza- 

 tion of forest products. A beginning has been made in 

 the establishment of forest experiment stations which 

 should as rapidly as possible be extended to cover at 

 least all of the principal forest regions of the country. 



Notable contributions have been made to our knowledge 

 of remaining timber supplies and related economic sub- 

 jects. 



"Information on the need for timber growing and the 

 best methods for growing and utilizing timber have been 

 widely disseminated. Public opinion has been aroused 

 until now there is a powerful Nation-wide support for 

 the adoption of a national policy which will bring about 

 the growing of timber on privately owned lands to sup- 

 plement that which can be produced on National Forests 

 and other public holdings." 



FIRES ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



By B. W. Greeley, United States Forester 



'T'HE area of National Forest lands burned over in the 

 ^ fiscal year 1920 was 342,193 acres, as against 2,007,- 

 034 in 1919; the estimated damage was $419,897, as 

 against $4,919,769; and the total cost of fire-fighting 

 (exclusive of the time of Forest officers) was close to 

 $1,000,000, as against $3,039,615. District 1 (Montana 

 and northern Idaho) had much the largest number of 

 fires (1,716), and had 25 of the 99 fires which caused 

 damage in excess of $1,000. District 6 (Washington and 

 Oregon) had 1,385 fires, and District 5 (California) 

 1,338. Together, these three districts had 73 per cent of 

 all the fires exactly the same percentage as in 1919. 



The figures given reveal some instructive contrasts. 

 While the total number of fires decreased 10.6 per cent, 

 the number of lightning-caused fires increased 40.2 per 

 cent. The decrease in man-caused fires was very marked, 

 with a drop of 35 per cent. The number of campers' 

 fires decreased 28.2 per cent, and this in spite of the fact 

 that recreational use of the forests is growing by leaps 

 and bounds. 



Again, not quite nine-tenths as many fires were fought, 

 at about one-third the cost ; they covered one-sixth the 

 area, and did one-twelfth the damage. The number of 

 fires which burned less than one-fourth of an acre was 

 considerably greater than in 1919, while less than one- 

 third as many covered 10 acres and did over $1,000 

 damage. 



Any attempt at intepreting these data must take into 

 account the great differences in the character of the two 

 seasons. The general character and history of the 1920 

 season were summarized in last year's report. In con- 

 trast with the season of 1919, which both in length and 

 severity was one of the worst that the West has ever 

 known, it was short, but acute while it lasted. An un- 

 precedented number of fires were caused by lightning, 

 exceeding by 25 per cent the highest previous record. 



Lightning fires are apt to be particularly hard to con- 

 trol, for two reasons : They occur most commonly in 

 the high mountains, where they are hard to get at quick- 

 ly, and they often occur in considerable numbers almost 

 simultaneously, so that the protective force is taxed to 

 the utmost to meet the strain without cracking. On one 

 Forest in California the Klamath a series of storms 



started 48 fires within six days, while on the Trinity a 

 single disturbance in one day started 70, besides causing 

 a number of others on neighboring forests. Under such 

 conditions, to bring all the fires under control before they 

 reach large dimensions is beyond human capacity with 

 the present protective force and equipment. In district 

 6 (Oregon and Washington) practically all the fires re- 

 quiring heavy expenditures to bring under control were 

 lightning-caused. 



The peak of the load occurred in district 1 (Montana 

 and northern Idaho). Topography, climate and wilder- 

 ness conditions combine to make the problem of. fire pre- 

 vention in portions of western Montana and northern 

 Idaho well-nigh insuperable at the present time. In this 

 district, almost always characterized by extreme summer 

 drought, the precipitation for June, July and August was 

 about two-thirds of normal. During the season there 

 were 1,281 lightning fires 75 per cent of the total from 

 all causes. And over 30 per cent of all the fires broke 

 out within a single 10-day period. 



A large outlay for fire fighting was inevitable under 

 such conditions. Since the appropriation for fire fighting 

 was only $250,000, deficiency appropriations became nec- 

 essary to replenish the general administration funds. Two 

 such appropriations were made by Congress, totaling 

 $775,000. Fortunately, an exceptionally favorable spring 

 and early summer, with late rains, resulted in expendi- 

 tures in the latter part of the fiscal year far below what 

 is normally required, so that at its close there remained 

 an unexpended balance of $50,000. 



The 1921 season has continued, on the whole, favorable 

 to the date of this report, and the expenditures for fire 

 fighting have been decidedly below what must be looked 

 for in years of normal hazard. Nevertheless, the fire- 

 fighting fund for the fiscal year of $250,000 has been ex- 

 hausted and additional liabilities of approximately $225,- 

 000 incurred. The greater part of the expenditures have 

 been in Montana, Idaho and California. 



A hazard of unique character was created by the tre- 

 mendous blow down of timber on the west side of the 

 Olympic Peninsula, in Washington. Something like 

 6,000,000,000 feet of timber are estimated to be on the 

 ground, creating the most formidable fire trap the For- 



