94 OUR NATIONAL FORESTS 



Other management studies deal with the deter- 

 mination by actual measurement of the volumes 

 of trees and stands, and the growth of trees and the 

 yields of whole forests. Reliable growth and yield 

 data for the different species and types are neces- 

 sary to properly handle timber sales as well as for 

 forest management. They are also essential for 

 determining damages caused by fires and trespass. 



Forest Protection Studies. Studies in forest 

 protection endeavor to find the best methods of 

 protecting the National Forests from fire, grazing, 

 disease, insects, wind, snow, hail, and animals. 

 The most efficient protection of the National For- 

 ests from fire calls for an accurate, scientific knowl- 

 edge of all the factors that enter into the problem. 

 Comprehensive studies are undertaken to secure 

 the basis for a more scientific method of distrib- 

 uting National Forest fire-protecting funds. The 

 aim has been to find the degree of intensiveness in 

 fire protection warranted by timber, forage, and 

 watershed values, as modified by their susceptibility 

 to damage by fire. Under the ideal system of al- 

 lotting fire-protecting funds, the most valuable re- 

 sources, which at the same time are most in danger 

 of destruction by fire, should receive the largest 



