CHAPTER XV 

 PROTECTION AGAINST FOREST FIRES 



Effects of Forest Fires. — Forest fires are in the main in- 

 jurious to forest production. In certain instances, beneficial 

 results may accrue. There exists such a wide disparity be- 

 tween the relative importance of the injurious and beneficial 

 influences that the latter have often been overlooked. In 

 this chapter the effects of fires are assumed to be injurious 

 unless otherwise specifically stated. 



Annual Fire Loss. — A general statement covering the total 

 damage done by forest fires in the average season or in any 

 one year for a territory as large as the United States must be 

 a mere approximation owing to lack of statistics for many 

 portions of the country and to incomplete estimation of the 

 damage. Plmnmer ^ makes the statement that "Forest fires 

 in the United States have caused an average annual loss of 

 about seventy human fives, the destruction of trees worth at 

 the very least $25,000,000 and the loss of stock, crops, build- 

 ings and other improvements to the amount of many milUons 

 more. To these must be added enormous losses from the 

 destruction of young tree growth, deterioration of the soil, 

 damage to water-courses and adjacent property by low water 

 and flood, interruption of business, and depreciation of 

 property." 



This estimate, pubHshed in 191 2, was based on a careful 



search of all the sources of information. It may be taken as 



representative of the period in the United States before the 



awakening of pubfic interest and the development of scien- 



241 



