AMERICAN FORESTRY 



61 



STOPPING FOREST FIRES 



Gifford Pinchot, Chief Forester, of Penn- 

 sylvania, has made the following comment 

 on the forest fire season in Pennsylvania 

 during the fall of 1921 : 



"The people of Pennsylvania are getting 

 their money's worth from the million dol- 

 lars appropriated last spring by the Legis- 

 lature to put down forest fires. Half of 

 the million is being spent during the pres- 

 ent fiscal year. This is what is being done 

 with it, and here are somi of the results : 



"Fifty new steel towers, most of them 

 sixty feet high, have been erected at the best 

 observation points throughout the State. 

 Every tower was completed and connected 

 by telephone with men organized into ef- 

 fective fire fighting crews before the fire 

 season began. An entirely new system of 

 fighting forest fires, pronounced by the U. 

 S. Forest Service to be the best in existence, 

 was devised and installed. Fire wardens 

 and other fire fighters were equipped with 

 fire tools, among them a new combination 

 rake and bush-hook superior to anything 

 yet invented. 



"Before the fall forest fire season opened, 

 the Department was ready to meet it. The 

 best way to get an idea of the results ac- 

 complished is to compare them with the 

 average fall fire season during the previ- 

 ms five years. 



"The average number of fall forest fires 

 that started during the last five years was 

 254. In 1921 there were 197. The average 

 area burned over in the five years was 21,- 

 564.73 acres a year. In 1921 it was 4,- 

 085.68, or less than one-fifth. 



"You cannot keep all fires from starting, 

 but you can handle them promptly and 

 effectively after the start. The best test 

 of a forest fire organization is the average 

 size of the firts. The smaller the size 

 the better the work. From this point of 

 view it is worth noting that the average 

 size of fires in the fall for the previous 

 five years was 84.9 acres, while the average 

 acreage per fire in 1921 was 20.73, or 'ess 

 than a quarter. 



"If we compare the results in 1921 with 

 the best fall in the previous history of the 

 Department, a fall of such exceptional 

 weather conditions that only 81 fires were 

 reported as against 197 last fall, we find 

 that less than two-thirds of the area wis 

 burned over, while the average per fire was 

 only one- fourth. 



"I am very proud of the men who have 

 brought these results about. They have 

 proved themselves worthy of the confidence 

 the people of the State, through the Leg- 

 islature, have reposed in them. It is no 

 more than fair to say that they are giving 

 the State a dollar's worth of work for 

 every dollar the Department of Forestry 

 is spending. 



"The job of stopping forest fires is well 

 begun. We have proved that it can be car- 

 ried through if the next Legislature will 

 give us the money to do it. In the mean- 

 time, it is some satisfaction to know that 

 the State is not only getting what it paid 

 for, but that increased forest growth will 

 pay it all back." 



FORESTS AND STREAM FLOW 



Investigation of the effect of forests upon 

 stream flow is being made jointly by the 

 Forest Service and Weather Bureau of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, 

 at a station in the comparatively light for- 

 ests of the Colorado Rockies. "When com- 

 pleted," says the department, "this inves- 

 tigation will furnish information of great 

 value and significance for this and similar 

 sections of the United States where agricul- 

 tural development is dependent upon stream 

 flow for irrigation." 



Somewhat similar work has been done 

 in Europe, notably at Zurich, Switzerland. 

 Observations, extending over 18 years, were 

 made upon two small watersheds, one whol- 

 ly, and the other one-third, forested. 



"On a proportional basis," the Forest 

 Service says, "the total annual stream dis- 

 charge was approximately equal on the two 

 Zurich watersheds. In short, heavy rain- 

 falls the maximum run-off per second 

 in the forested watershed was only one- 

 third to one-half that on the lightly for- 

 ested watersheds, and the total flood stage 

 discharge usually one-half. Although, as 

 a result of very long, heavy rains, the 

 run-off was the same after the forest soil 

 had become saturated, the forest cover 

 appreciably stabilized the stream flow and 

 reduced the extremes of both high and low 

 water. The forest cover was also bene- 

 ficial in preventing landslides, which were 

 common on steep, unforested slopes dur- 

 ing heavy rains, and in preventing erosion, 

 which greatly increases flood damage 

 throughout the entire course of streams." 



A YEAR-AROUND SERVICE 



You can order Books through our Book Service Department at a Sav- 

 ing of 10 per cent. This offer holds good any time during the year to mem- 

 bers of the American Forestry Association. 



The 



Romance 



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M. A., V. M. H. 



JluthoT 0/ 



ARISTOCRAT 

 OF THE 

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Beautifully illustrated from unusual photo- 

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