462 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



This is the 

 table, map, 

 elements. 



NEAR THE TOP O' THE WORLD 



next step in the evolution of a lookout; a temporary station equipped with wooden 

 and crude instrument (alidade) for sighting "smokes," but unprotected from the 



being discovered. This led to the 

 estabHshment of semi-permanent 

 lookouts, where the observer 

 usually lived at the foot of the 

 mountain and spent a part of each 

 day on the summit watching for 

 fires. Under such conditions, 

 when a fire was discovered, it 

 was necessary for him to ride or 

 walk to the nearest telephone, per- 

 haps miles away, to report, thus 

 consuming hours of valuable 

 time. 



The cold and storms common 

 to high elevations even in mid- 

 summer caused great discomfort 

 to these observers, with the re- 

 sult that steps had to be taken 

 to provide them with shelter. 

 Stone or log houses were, there- 

 fore, built on the tops of peaks, 

 awnings were put up over rocky 

 points to protect the men from 

 the sun, and where wooden tow- 

 ers were used a rough shelter was 

 built on top, with board shutters 

 for windows. Much needed tele- 

 phone connections with the near- 

 est ranger station were also in- 



tected from lightning; that an ef- 

 ficient system of communication 

 with the outside world was of 

 first importance; that instru- 

 ments of precision and good maps 

 were necessary for the accurate 

 locating of fires, and that care 

 should be taken in selecting offi- 

 cers well qualified to fill the exact- 

 ing position of observer. 



The most elementary form of 

 fire lookout was an observation 

 point on the summit of a hill, or 

 in the top of a high tree reached 

 by ladders. Next in order came 

 a rocky peak or a roughly con- 

 structed log tower, equipped with 

 a table on which could be placed 

 a map of the forest and a crude 

 alidade used for locating smokes. 

 These were all classed as tem- 

 porary stations, unprotected from 

 the elements, and visited only oc- 

 casionally by patrolmen or rang- 

 ers. It was soon discovered, how- 

 ever, that such lookouts did not 

 afford the forest any great degree 

 of protection, since between the 

 hours of ol)servation it was pos- 

 sible for a fire to start and gain 

 considerable headway before 



THE LOOKOUT BECOMES ESTABLISHED 



Severe weather conditions at high altitudes later made it necessary to build rough log 

 shelters for the observers and to erect awnings to protect them from the heat of the sun. 

 From such crude equipment the efficient lookout station of today has evolved. 



