36 



"Fire line construction, snag disposal, iDurning 

 of rotten logs and piled debris - real controllable 

 burning - will reduce difficulties of control. Serious 

 fires will always be a possibility, but they can be 

 reduced to few in number, and their occurrence no more 

 argument for the abandonment of fire protection than 

 the San Francisco fire of 1906 would be for abandonment 

 of the city fire department." 



As is usually the case of all governmental de- 

 partments, the greatest difficulty is that sufficient 

 appropriations are not made available tocarry out to 

 the best advantage the policies of the department. 

 This holds true of the United States Forest Service, 

 which receives but one-tenth the appropria.tion which 

 Forest Service officials deem necessary for the proper 

 administration and protection of the National Forests, 

 With increased funds, the Forest Service officials 

 maintain that the efficiency of the present fire pro- 

 tective organization could be greatly increased. This 

 could be brought about by an increase in number of 

 fire lines, lookouts, patrolmen, trails, etc. Further- 

 more, by the employment of air patrols and new and 

 cheaper methods of snag disposal, the fire hazard can 

 be greatly reduced. 



