THE FIGHT AGAINST FOREST FIRES 



675 



tion, permanent improvements, and all 

 -other work upon them amounts to only 

 about two and one-half cents per acre, 

 ■or about two and one-half mills on each 

 dollar of valuation. The net cost, after 

 deducting receipts, cuts this in two, and 

 in a few years there will be no drain on 

 the government at all, as the receipts will 

 more than balance the expenses. 



In this connection it may be added 

 that Prussia spends about $2.50 per acre 

 annually on its public forests, and France 

 about $1 an acre. Even British India 

 spends over twice as much per acre on 

 its public forests as the United States. 



prote;cting our national forests 



The protection of the vast domain of 

 -our public forests has been a gigantic 

 task, inasmuch as the national forests 

 are located chiefly in the mountain re- 

 gions of the West, and, including the 

 forests in Alaska, comprise a gross area 

 of about 190 million acres. 



These forests are still, for the most 

 part, in a state of undeveloped wilder- 

 ness. When first organized there were 

 in the forests almost no means of trans- 

 portation and communication ; thousands 

 of square miles were almost inaccessible 

 for patrol or for transportation of men 

 and supplies in case of fire. The forests 

 themselves are chiefly composed of conif- 

 erous species, a type of forest far more 

 exposed to serious fires than those com- 

 posed of hardwoods. In many sections 

 there is a prolonged dry season in the 

 summer, during which the fire danger is 

 ■critical. 



The first step taken was to organize a 

 force of men, properly distributed, to 

 patrol the forests and to fight such fires 

 as occurred. Accordingly the forests 

 were divided and subdivided into such 

 divisions and districts as were necessary 

 for efi:ective organization. The efi^ort 

 was at once made to remove as fast as 

 possible the causes of fires, because the 

 aim of organized protection is to prevent 

 fires from starting at all. This condition 

 is, however, a long way ofi^, and in the 

 meantime preparation must be made to 

 reach quickly fires which may occur, and 

 with the necessary means to extinguish 

 them. 



The causes of fires may be well illus- 

 trated by the record of those occurring 

 on the national forests in the year 1911, 

 as follows : Railroads, 33 per cent ; light- 

 ning, 14 per cent; incendiary, 6 per cent; 

 brush-burning, 6 per cent; campers, 13 

 per cent; saw-mills and donkey engines, 

 I per cent ; miscellaneous, 5 per cent ; 

 unknown, 22 per cent. These are all 

 preventable causes, except lightning. 



The principal danger from lightning 

 lies in the fact that there are through- 

 out the forests standing dead trees and 

 old snags which are dried out and easily 

 ignited when struck. Ultimately, when 

 the forests are fully opened up and de- 

 veloped and these old snags are removed, 

 the principal danger from lightning fires 

 wih have been removed. 



Railroad fires will be eliminated when 

 it is a requirement for locomotives to 

 burn oil or carry adequate spark arres- 

 ters. Pending the time when this can 

 be accomplished, the forest service is re- 

 quiring the clearing of rights of way of 

 inflammable material and careful patrol 

 of the tracks in cooperation with rail- 

 roads. The number of railroad fires were 

 reduced within the last year by five per 

 cent. 



Most fires from other causes are due 

 to carelessness. Education of the people 

 to exercise care in the use of fires on the 

 forests and strict enforcement of laws 

 and regulations is gradually bringing 

 about a change in this respect. Time is 

 required to bring about this reform, 

 although great advances are being made 

 every year. Meanwhile, as it is inevi- 

 table that fires will start here and there 

 in the public forests, the government 

 must be in position to stop them before 

 there has been time for them to develop 

 into conflagrations which cause serious 

 damage. 



It is recognized that effective fire pre- 

 vention is impossible until the forests 

 are opened up with means of transporta- 

 tion and communication and are other- 

 wise equipped with improvements for 

 fire fighting. The ordinary virgin for- 

 est, especially one which has already 

 been more or less damaged by fire, is 

 littered with fallen trees and other debris, 

 which make it impossible to penetrate to 



