284 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



June 



Planting is feasible on most of these 

 lands, the greatest difficulty being to 

 keep out fire. Chestnut, red oak, hick- 

 ory, bassword, white, red, and Scotch 

 pine, and European larch are suitable 

 species, the selection depending on the 

 character of the land and the kind of 

 timber desired. 



By the plan of Government coopera- 

 tion a technical forester can be sent 

 without charge to make a preliminary 

 examination of lands on which plant- 

 ing is contemplated. This determines 

 whether planting is advisable. If the 

 preliminary report is favorable, a de- 

 tailed plan for planting and nursey 

 work can be made at a cost to the own- 

 er of the actual expenses of the work. 

 Supervision can also be provided un- 

 der special arrangement. 



Fire Fighting The worst enemy of the 



on Forest forests is fire. To COm- 



Reserves bat it the Forest Service 



maintains a fire-fighting system. How 

 effective is this system is shown by the 

 following figures for the last two 

 years : 



Area of forest reserves in the United 

 States, exclusive of Alaska and 



Porto Rico. 

 In other words, while the reserve 

 area has almost doubled, the burned 

 area has been reduced by more than 

 one-half, and the percentage of area 

 burned has been reduced by more than 

 tnree-fourths. 



Only since February I, 1905, have 

 the reserves been under the adminis- 

 tration of the Forest Service. This re- 

 duction is therefore the showing of the 

 first eleven months of administration 

 by Government foresters. The work- 

 ing out of a system of effective con- 

 trol of fire on the reserves is still in 

 its infancy. "Too much fire" is still 

 the judgment of the Forester on the 

 situation. Of course, bad seasons play 



a large part in determining the fire 

 losses of a year. Even with the best 

 possible system of protection there are 

 bound to be wide fluctuations between 

 individual years. But it is believed 

 that under expert care the injury to 

 the National forests can be rapidly and 

 permanently cut down. 



In developing its system of protec- 

 tion the Forest Service availed itself 

 of past experience, home and foreign. 

 The reserve officers forest guards, 

 assistant forest rangers, deputy forest 

 rangers, forest rangers, deputy forest 

 supervisors, and forest supervisors 

 are under the direct supervision of the 

 office of the Service at Washington, 

 guided by a definite code of instruc- 

 tions ; but large authority, with corre- 

 sponding responsibility, is placed upon 

 the local officers themselves. All ex- 

 cept the forest guards are civil-service 

 employees, and the salaries paid range 

 from $720 to $2,500 a year. Each 

 supervisor is responsible for the patrol 

 of his reserve and is expected to devise 

 systems best suited to his locality. Al- 

 ready, in the brief period since the or- 

 ganization of this system, a high 

 standard of efficiency has been devel- 

 oped, and a much higher is expected. 



A constant lookout for fires is kept 

 from ridge trails and commanding 

 points during the danger season, and 

 the reserves are patrolled as efficient- 

 ly as possible with the force available. 

 Roads, trails, and fire lines are con- 

 structed, affording means of rapid 

 communication and points of vantage 

 at which to arrest the progress of a 

 fire, and telephone lines are being run 

 to help give warning and summon as- 

 sistance. 



Every forest supervisor is author- 

 ized, in person or through a subordi- 

 nate, to hire temporary men, purchase 

 mate-rial and supplies, and pay for 

 their transportation from place to place 

 to extinguish a fire. When the cost is 

 likely to exceed $300 the supervisor 

 telegraphs the Forester for authority 

 to incur the additional expense. 



Forest rangers are required to re- 

 port monthly to the supervisor regard- 

 ing all fires occurring in their districts. 



