FIFTH NATIONAI< CONSERVATION CONGRESS 311 



FOREST FIRE CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES 



THE REGION 



THE region covered by this report includes the States of Delaware, Mary- 

 land, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, the eastern half of 

 Texas, and all of the States to the south and east of these. This region 

 was originally almost entirely covered with forest, and, though much of the land 

 has now been cleared for agriculture, even yet 54 per cent of the total area is 

 occupied by forest growth. 



Forest: Two general types of forest occupy the region: the southern pine 

 forests extending along the Atlantic and Gulf coast, and the central hardwood 

 forest occupying the northern and western parts of the region. The two main 

 types are about evenly divided, there being approximately 130,000,000 acres of 

 each. According to the report of the National Conservation Commission, supple- 

 mented by some local data, 46 per cent of this forest land is owned by lumber- 

 men and other large owners. The rest is held in small tracts by farmers and 

 other residents. 



In the States under consideration there is an estimated stand of a little more 

 than 700,000,000 M feet of timber, something over half of which is pine. Placing 

 the value of stumpage at $5 a thousand, the present value of this stand is about 

 $3,600,000,000. 



Fire Damage: Throughout this entire region, comprising 16 States, only one, 

 Maryland, has any complete data in regard to forest fires. Two other States, 

 North Carolina and Louisiana, have some incomplete records, which are here used 

 for what they are worth. The only complete figures for the remaining States 

 were those collected, in connection with the 10th census. It seems probable that 

 while the area annually burned over is no less than given there, the damage done 

 by fires is much greater because the value of stumpage has so largely increased 

 since that time. It appears, therefore, that there is an annual loss from forest 

 fires throughout this region of $23,700,000. In this estimate only the loss in 

 standing timber and other personal property is included. The loss through im- 

 poverishment of the soil, injury to stream flow, and change in the composition 

 of the future forest would add enormously to this damage. There are no records 

 of any loss of life in any of the Southern States except North Carolina, but in all 

 probability each fire season exacts its toll. 



PRESENT ATTITUDE 



THE attitude of the general public towards forest fires is at present one of 

 indifference. In a few States, however, the sentiment is against burning 

 the woods, and throughout the region this sentiment is growing; in some 

 States very rapidly. In Maryland "very few believe in burning"; in Virginia 

 "the majority are interested in keeping out fires" ; while in North Carolina land- 

 owners are anxious to prevent fires, especially in the hardwood region; in 

 Louisiana "the people generally recognize the evil and do not favor burning the 

 woods" ; in the remaining States there seems to be little definite sentiment against 

 the practice. Professor Alfred Akerman well summarizes the general attitude 



