466 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE RED TERROR OF THE FOREST FIRE 



The "reason why" for all lookouts. And it is to a comparatively small band of men that We 

 look for protection from its ravages. Only because of the wonderful efficiency of these 

 men of the Forest Service, who see to it that the regulations are rigidly enforced, and who 

 arc untiringly "on the job," are we often spared the terrific price of carelessness. 



country is that of the Nebraska National Forest, in the 

 vast sand-hills region of that State. Here an observatory 

 has been built on a high hill from which a constant 

 watch is kept over a vast area of rolling grass lands. 

 There are no natural forests 

 in this region to be devastated 

 by fire, for trees grow only 

 along the river banks in the 

 sand hills. But the Govern- 

 ment has here undertaken the 

 largest tree-planting project 

 in the United States, and it is 

 to protect some 5,000 acres of 

 pine forest, set out by hand 

 and ranging from 3 to 18 

 years of age, that this fire 

 lookout is maintained. 



With the evolution of the 

 lookout station there has also 

 come a change in the char- 

 acter of its personnel. Rarely 

 now is the old "mossback" 

 type of observer, who knew 

 well the country he was 

 guarding, but was too ignor- 

 ant to kee]> anything but a 

 r'uigli diary, found on Na- 

 tional Forest lookouts. His 



ter educated class of officer, 

 versed in topography and sur- 

 veying, who can handle com- 

 ])licated instruments and set 

 down concise observations on 

 meteorological conditions, 



areas of visibility, and other 

 important data that all look- 

 outs are now required to keep. 

 Young women have also en- 

 tered this field of outdoor 

 work, and are now to be 

 found handling lookout jobs 

 in an efficient manner in the 

 National Forests of Colo- 

 rado, Minnesota, Oregon and 

 California. 



Within the past few years 

 the airplane has vied with the 

 lookout as an effective means 

 of detecting incipient forest 

 fires. 1921 marked the third 

 season during which an elab- 

 orate aerial patrol was main- 

 tained by the Forest Service 

 in cooperation with the U. S. 

 Air Service throughout the 

 forest regions of the Pacific 

 Coast States. The airplane, 

 although an important ad- 

 junct to the detection and fire fighting systems now in 

 use, will probably never replace the lookout station. One 

 of the reasons for this is that any given part of a forest 

 located along an aerial patrol route is only under obser- 



THE CLOUD P.ATROL 



l>lace has hccn taken by a bet- ^ careful watch is kept during the fire season by regular air patrol. This one goes out 



from Mt. Elwell, on the Plumas National Forest in California. 



