FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 279 



supplies are generally maintained for a limited number of men only, since in 

 case of a large fire requiring 40 or 50 men to fight it, tools can be transported to 

 the iire when the men are sent in. Large central supply depots must be maintained 

 for this purpose. 



In certain sections it has been found advisable to keep food supplies for use 

 of fire fighters stored at different points in the territory. Another plan used 

 by the Forest Service is that of having available at ranger headquarters a number 

 of standard packs, containing food for a certain number of days. In case of fire 

 a man can at once take such a pack and go to the fire. Should he be kept there 

 for a long time further supplies are sent in. 



In open country, fairly free from rock, the plow as a trenching tool is most 

 valuable. A member of the Forest Service has invented a collapsible plow which 

 can, if necessary, be packed on a horse. Dynamite for trenching in front of a 

 fire has also been used to advantage. 



Numerous other tools and devices such as shields for use of fire fighters 

 when whipping out a fire, chemical engines, gasoline engines for pumping water 

 from a stream, etc., might be mentioned. In each section devices to meet the 

 peculiar needs of the section have been put into use and each year sees some 

 new plan advanced for assisting in controlling fires. In order that advantage can 

 be taken of all new ideas advanced there should be thorough exchange of ideas 

 and information between fire protection agencies in all sections of the country. 

 A plan for a national clearing house for such ideas should meet with the approval 

 of all engaged in protection work. 



I 



TIMBER LAND PATROL 



N the report of the National Conservation Commission, February, 1909, the 

 following statement appears in discussing protection of privately owned 

 forest land: 



"On probably not more than one per cent of the 450,000,000 acres of forest 

 land in private ownership in the United States is there a system of fire protection, 

 in which the object sought, and for the most part accomplished, is the prevention 

 of fires rather than the mere control after the fires have actually begun." 



Data are not now available on which to state definitely what proportion of 

 the land in private ownership is patrolled with a view to preventing fires. In- 

 complete data, however, show that there is today such patrol covering some 

 92,000,000 acres, or over 30 per cent of the total timbered area in private 

 ownership, if the large acreage of holdings in woodlots is not taken into account. 



Woodlot areas for the most part need no patrol because the owner or his 

 agent usually reside on the land. Patrol has been most largely taken up in the 

 Pacific Northwest, New England and the Lake States. Were proper protection 

 given in the Southern States, which have a large timbered area, the percentage 

 of lands being patrolled, other than Government holdings, would be much greater 

 than can now be reported. Present data, however, shows that in fire years there 

 has been an increase of some 3,000 per cent in the area of timber land being 

 protected against fire. 



