172 FOREST OUTINGS 



other questions we must face if we are now to keep this land rich, comely, 

 less worn and ugly; a good and pleasant land on which to make a life, and 

 living, for all. 



REVIEWING THE RECORD of 5 years, 1933-37, inclusive, Roy Headley, Chief 

 of Fire Control, United States Forest Service, reflects: 



"On the average, 172,000 forest fires a year, and 156,000 of these man- 

 caused! An incredible fact. Everyone studying the subject comes sooner 

 or later to a state of exasperated wonder. 



"Not on the national forests where law enforcement has perhaps been 

 more systematic, but for the country as a whole, intentional burners have the 

 discredit of more than 42,000 fires in 1937. Thirteen million of the thirty- 

 six million acres burned annually are chargeable to these intentional fires. 1 

 The trouble is mostly in the South but no section is wholly free from people 

 who fire the woods because they want to. 



"Intentional burners are not all alike in motive. A large number have 

 economic reasons for burning. When no feed has been stored to carry cattle 

 through the lean period of the year, they almost starve before the new grass 

 comes in the spring. To burn off the old dead grass enables hungry cattle 

 to get at the new growth a few days sooner. . . . 



"Unemployment is responsible for many fires. Despite all precautions to 

 avoid hiring men to fight fire who may have had anything to do with starting 

 fires, some men will try this chance to earn a few dollars when no other job 

 is to be had." 



The break-down of forest fire causes for the 5-year period, 1933-37, 

 Headley continues, runs as shown in table 1 . 



TABLE 1.- Causes of forest fires for the United States as a whole, 7933-37 



Per- Number Per- Number 



Cause cent of fires Cause cent of fires 



Incendiary 24.7 42,377 Unknown 7.2 12,344 



Smokers 24.4 41,857 Campers 6.3 10,778 



Debris burning 13.7 23,486 Railroads 4.3 7,408 



Miscellaneous 8.9 15,292 Lumbering 1.8 3,049 



Lightning 8.7 14,932 



1 36 million acres is greater than the land area in Maine, New Hampshire, Massa- 

 chusetts, and Vermont. 



