THE FIRE CALL OF THE NORTH WOODS 



711 



thirty per cent of the fires are started by the railroads, 

 twenty per cent by campers, tourists, fishermen and berry 

 pickers, forty per cent by smokers, settlers and slash 

 burners and ten per cent by miscellaneous agencies. 



Every year, hundreds and in some years thousands of 

 fires spring up in Northern Minnesota from these causes 

 and the fire call of the north woods goes out to the rest 

 of the state. But it is the rangers and their fire-fighting 

 organization which tells in the ensuing battles. During 

 the two months battle last summer, the forest service 

 organization unaided extinguished 710 fires, the forest 

 rangers aided by the National Guard, 30 fires, lumber 

 company patrols and crew working under the direction of 

 forest rangers, 50 fires and the National Guard unaided, 

 8 fires. It was a bad season. Newspaper reports not- 

 withstanding, the forest rangers were able to save all 

 villages and all but six settler's homes. Several thousand 

 tons of hay, stacked in meadows were burned and the loss 

 in standing timber, young and old, approximated a mil- 

 lion to a million and a half dollars. Two hundred and 

 fifty-two thousand acres are estimated to have been 

 burned over, as follows : 



Acres 



St. Louis, Lake and Carleton Counties. 92,000 



Aitkin County 20,000 



Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison and Mille 



Lacs Counties 35,000 



Red Lake District 70,000 



Koochiching County 15,000 



Mahnomen and Clearwater Counties. . 20,000 



Total 252,000 



This is classified as follows: 



Woodland and timber 42,000 acres 



Brush and cut over land 42,000 " 



Open dry bog and grass land. . . .168,000 " 



Meeting the Fire Call 



How is the yearly fire call from the north country to 

 be met most effectually? Many and interesting are the 

 suggestions made for doing away with the fire danger. 

 Most of the measures proposed have been in effect for 

 years, indicating that the parties making the suggestions 

 have not been in touch with the work of the Forest 

 Service. Some are unique, others simply preposterous. 

 One man proposed to construct a series of firebreaks a 

 quarter of a mile wide at intervals of every six miles, not 

 realizing that this would require an initial expenditure of 



over one hundred million dollars to say nothing of the 

 cost of keeping clear thereafter, or of the fact that such 

 firebreaks would in nowise lessen the need for an efficient 

 patrol force. Another idea frequently put forward is to 

 clear a strip a mile wide around each village absolutely 

 clean of combustible material. This might be rather ef- 

 fective, but it would be cheaper in most cases to move 

 the villages. In other words, such an undertaking would 

 be far beyond the means of the average village in the 

 forest country. An asbestos screen has been proposed, 

 which might be shifted like a drift fence and from which 

 back-fires might be set 1 



The turning over of fire control work to the commis- 

 sioners of the various counties, to the National Guard or 

 to a state constabulary, as well as other impracticable 

 suggestions have been made by persons, no doubt in good 

 faith, but with little if any knowledge of the complex 

 problem that can be handled only by a highly trained and 

 experienced force of real woodsmen. The training of a 

 man for a city fire department requires much less time 

 than to prepare one for fire work in the forest. 



There is only one way to prevent and control fires in 

 the woods. That way has proved highly effective as far 

 as means were provided to make it so. An adequate 

 force of forest rangers and patrolmen selected and di- 

 rected by a trained forester, free from political influence, 

 provided with proper equipment and actuated by a desire 

 to preserve the forest with all its human habitations, its 

 industries and its wild life is the answer. 



An appropriation of $415,000 for the fiscal year 1923 

 is needed. This to employ a suitable force of men and 

 to purchase necessary equipment. With the present ap- 

 propriation of $125,000 the State has been able to obtain 

 from co-operative agencies $300,000 more for fire control 

 work. It is believed that by increasing the State appro- 

 priation the co-operative agencies can be induced to do 

 still more. 



The Legislature will be asked to provide for control 

 of the water level in existing ditches and to regulate the 

 construction of ditches in new drainage projects, giving 

 forestry as well as agriculture a voice in their approval. 



An amendment will be asked to the burning permit 

 law, further restricting the issuance of permits. 



The educational campaign in forestry, and particularly 

 in fire prevention, needs to be intensified and measures 

 are contemplated with this object in view. 



Mian- Caused Fires Are Preventable 



DO YOUR PART 



