AIRPLANE PATROL OF THE FORESTS 



BY F. A. ELLIOTT, STATE FORESTER OF OREGON 



IT may be safely said that the latest development in 

 forestry is the use of airplanes in the patrol of Ore- 

 gon's timber resources for the detection of forest 

 fires. 



Experiments along this line were carried on in Oregon 

 last summer by the Air Service branch of the War De- 

 partment, working in co-operation with the United States 

 Forest Service and the Oregon State Board of Forestry. 

 Last season's work may be classed as an experiment by 

 the different services to determine the advisability of 

 maintaining such a patrol from year to year. Would 

 airplane patrol prove to be the more economic and 

 effective, eventually replacing the patrol and lookout sys- 

 tem now employed for forest fire detection and suppres- 

 sion? These 

 and many 

 other questions 

 were in the 

 minds of the 

 m e n charged 

 with the pro- 

 tection of Ore- 

 gon's timber 

 when the 

 planes were 

 first intro- 

 duced. The Air 

 Service had 

 available 

 planes and per- 

 sonnel at their 

 disposal. These 

 pilots, mechan- 

 ics and planes 

 must be kept 

 in action, and the Air Service was anxious to determine 

 the possibility of performing a real and valuable service 

 in conjunction with their regulations, which provide that 

 each pilot spend a certain amount of time in the air. The 

 men on airplane patrol in Oregon last season are highly 

 enthusiastic over the experiments and eager to become 

 efficient in this new line of work, while the Forestry 

 officials are extremely optimistic over the possibilities of 

 organizing an efficient patrol system for the coming year. 



Meetings of representatives from the Air Service, 

 State, Federal and private forest protective organizations 

 are being held and plans formulated for 1920. It is very 

 probable that the War Department will give further 

 assistance next season, and that a system of airplane 

 patrol will cover Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana 

 and Washington. Such a patrol will disregard all State 

 and National Forest boundaries and will conform to the 

 general topography and character of the forest cover 

 throughout the five States. California and Oregon were 



SALEM AIRPLANE PATROL BASE, SHOWING DE HAVILAND TYPE PLANES 



the only States to receive aid from the War Department 

 in airplane patrol during 1919. 



For Oregon alone, one complete observation squadron 

 will be required to sustain a daily patrol of the 28,000,000 

 acres of timber, brush and cut-over land which consti- 

 tute a fire risk. This squadron will probably consist of 

 18 planes, most probably of the DeHaviland type, 180 

 men, from 30 to 40 officers, carrier pigeon lofts, and will 

 include a photographic and radio section. 



Besides maintaining a daily patrol during the Are sea- 

 son, it is planned to photograph the entire forested area. 

 With the special aerial photographic appliances now in 

 use by the Army, it is estimated by Army officials that 

 this work may be accomplished in practically three 



weeks' time. 

 Should the 

 plan for the 

 combined pa- 

 trol of the five 

 States be ap- 

 proved by the 

 A i r Service, 

 primary control 

 stations will be 

 established at 

 Eugene, Ore- 

 gon ; Camp 

 Lewis, Wash- 

 ington; Ma- 

 ther Field, near 

 S acramento, 

 California, and 

 one other in 

 Idaho or Mon- 

 tana not yet se- 

 lected. The Oregon sub-bases will be located at Port- 

 land, Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford, Klamath 

 Falls, Prineville, Marshfield and Baker. To accommo- 

 date the large DeHaviland ships, the landing fields must 

 be at least 2,000 by 1,000 feet, free from obstructions, 

 such as trees, telephone lines, etc., and located on a level 

 or fairly even slope of sod or firm soil. Several such 

 fields have already been provided through the efforts of 

 local Commercial or Aero Clubs and by public-spirited 

 citizens, and are located at Portland, Salem, Eugene, 

 Roseburg and Medford. The advisability of going to 

 any great expense in providing emergency landing fields 

 along the patrol routes in the mountainous regions is 

 not considered practical by the Air Service officials, since 

 they state that such fields are apparently never located 

 near where trouble occurs. 



The mechanical success of the planes is beyond ques- 

 tion when the following figures are considered regarding 

 the distance covered by the Oregon patrol in 1919. The 



