American Forestry 



Vol. XVI NOVEMBER, 1910 No. n 



FUNDAMENTALS OF THE FIRE 



PROBLEM 



By HENRY S. GRAVES 

 Forester, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



At the request of AMERICAN FORESTRY, Mr. Graves was kind enough to set forth in the 

 following brief statement the main difficulties in the way of protecting forests from fire, the 

 general status of protective measures throughout the country, and the things which must 

 be done if the waste of forest resources through fire is to be promptly and effectively 

 checked. Ed.) 



NO SINGLE forest problem is so important as fire protection, for the risk 

 from fire to-day stands as a great obstacle in the way of the practice of 

 forestry. In the National Forests, the first work has necessarily been to 

 organize the Forests for administration and protection, and this work has con- 

 siderably retarded the development of the work of silviculture. As for private 

 holdings, the main reason why forestry is not more widely practiced is the 

 danger that the required investment may be lost or seriously impaired by sub- 

 sequent fires. 



The agitation for forestry and forest protection has now been carried on for 

 many years, and the principles of forestry have been endorsed by the public. 

 But the problem of getting the known and approved protective principles carried 

 into actual practice is as yet far from solution. This has been clearly demon- 

 strated during the past season, in which the loss from fires will prove to have 

 been greater, perhaps, than ever recorded before. 



The bulk of the public forest land in the United States is now included in the 

 National Forests, which are already well organized and are managed by an 

 administrative and protective force. The protective force is, however, inadequate 

 for a complete and effective control of fire. What is first required is a rapid 

 extension of tli system of trails, fire lines, and telephone lines. Considerable 

 public expenditures are of course needed for this improvement work, as well as 

 for increased patrol, \\liru ihe value of die property and the benefit to the 

 forests and to the public are considered, such expenditures, however, would 

 amount to a cheap insurance. 



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