1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



425 



ported lost. According to the press 

 dispatches, mills, lumber, and standing 

 timber in Chehalis count5% valued at 

 $1,000,000, were destroj^ed. 



Fires also raged along the Great 

 Northern Railroad between Skykomish 

 and Wellington, greatly impeding traf- 

 fic. The town of Enumclaw had a 

 narrow escape from destruction by the 

 flames. 



Oregon. Several lives and a great 

 amount of farm property and timber 

 was destroyed in this state by recent 

 forest fires. The town of Palmer and 

 the plant of the Bridal Veil Lumber 

 Company were destroyed. Two boj^s 

 were lost in the flames, and most of the 

 residents of the village had a narrow 

 escape, In Multnomah and Clackamas 

 counties several hundred persons were 

 left homeless by the fires. 



The loss caused b}' these fires in 

 Clackamas county alone is estimated at 

 $700,000 Of this amount, $500,000 

 was on standing timber and $200,000 

 on farm property. The loss in the 

 State of Oregon is estimated at over 

 $1,000,000. 



Colorado. The forest fires in this 

 state during the early part of Septem- 

 ber destroyed much valuable timber, 

 especially in the vicinity of Allen's 

 Park, St. Vrain Valley, Idaho Springs, 

 and Long's Peak. The most serious 

 fires occurred between Case and Shaw- 

 nee, Estes Park, Grand Lake, and Mt. 

 Fairchild, near Lawn Lake. 



On September 18 fires were reported 

 sweeping through the Rocky Mountain 

 forests from central Colorado to the 

 Wyoming line. A great amount of 

 damage was done to the protective for- 

 ests on the mountain slopes, which later 

 is likely to affect the supply of water 

 for irrigation. The damage to timber 

 in the forest reserves of this state was 

 not heavy, owing to active work on the 

 part of the reserve officials. 



"Wyoming. Forest fires in this state 

 near the Colorado boundary line be- 

 came so .serious about the middle of 

 September that Governor Richards de- 

 cided to call on the Secretary of the In- 

 terior for aid in fighting the fires. 

 After communicating with Governor 

 Orman of Colorado, requests for aid 



were sent by both executives. Rain 

 finally extinguished the fires after gov- 

 ernment officials and others had fought 

 the flames for a number of days. The 

 towns of Grand Encampment, Wyo., 

 and Pearl, Colo., were threatened by 

 the flames. 



F'ires were reported from almost 

 every section of the state, and it is esti- 

 mated that 300 square miles were 

 burned over in Fremont county. There 

 were serious fires in central LTinta 

 county, the Jackson Hole country, and 

 in the Shoshone Indian Reservation. 

 Natrona county had a fire and the tim- 

 ber in the Big Horn Mountains was 

 threatened by a large fire. 



Montana. This state had a number 

 of serious forest fires during September. 

 The most damage is reported from the 

 Crazy Mountains, near Big Timber; 

 also near Barnica and Anaconda. There 

 was a destructive fire in the Flathead 

 Indian Reservation, and also near Libby , 

 and in the Dayton Creek country. 



South Dakota. On September 14 a 

 fire was started near Mystic, in the 

 Black Hills Forest Reserve, by sparks 

 from a locomotive. The flames made 

 rapid headway and for a time it looked 

 as if great damage would result, but 

 owing to the active work of the Reserve 

 officials the fire was gotten under con- 

 trol. 



California. The mills of the North- 

 western Redwood Co., in Mendozi 

 county, were destroyed by a forest fire 

 about the middle of September. The 

 loss was $100,000. There was a forest 

 fire in Devil Canyon, in the San Ber- 

 nardino Reserve, early in the month. 

 Forest fires along the north fork of the 

 Yuba did considerable damage to via- 

 ducts and sluices. 



The experience of the summer of 1 902 

 has clearl}^ demonstrated the great value 

 of organized supervi-sion of the forests 

 on our public domain, and particularly 

 of the protective forests of our western 

 mountain districts. According to re- 

 cent reports of Forest Inspector E. T. 

 Allen, while the forests of the unpro- 

 tected public lands of Colorado were on 

 fire in many places, the reserves of that 

 state suffered but little damage. Simi- 

 larly, the mountain forests in nearly 



