FIFTH NATIONAI. CONSERVATION CONGRESS 363 



serted this to be impossible. In the northwest the smoke season was as inevitable as 

 the rainy season of winter, and this was not merely the result of clearing land but 

 from forest fires. It is only recently that our own forest officers have regarded 

 lookout stations as feasible in certain places; for lookout stations are useless if 

 smoke hides the view. This year has been the worst in many respects of all years 

 in California because of the frequency of lightning fires. Yet the lookout sta- 

 tions on only two forests, and then only for a short time, were out of commis- 

 sion because of smoke; and the smoke came from fires on private lands. This 

 year in California there were over 1,100 fires on the timbered areas. These were 

 kept down to an average of a little over 30 acres per fire. This was done by an 

 effective fire organization and through the means of the trails, telephones, and 

 lookout system. In one storm lightning set over 20 fires on one forest. It takes 

 swift and efficient work to handle such a situation. The results so far attained 

 show that fires can be mastered. But it is necessary first to put the forest in a 

 condition to enable the force to prevent fires, to detect those which start promptly, 

 and to reach them quickly. The Forest Service is developing a system of look- 

 out stations, fire lines, trails, and telephone lines that ultimately will make the 

 forests secure. Already the force is able to save every year property valued at 

 many million dollars through the improvements so far built, although as yet only 

 a beginning has been made. This work is carried on according to a definite plan, 

 already projected in detail. Each year's work adds 3,500 miles of trails, 3,500 

 miles of telephones, and many lookouts and other improvements, progressing 

 toward the final scheme. Until that is completed the forests can not be made 

 entirely secure. With that development, the forest fires can be handled even in 

 that exceptionally dry year that occasionally comes to every region. 



This protection not only saves the trees from destruction or injury, but al- 

 ready the effect is shown in the restocking of many areas where the old fires had 

 prevented reproduction. Personally, I had hardly expected that there would be 

 so quick a response. But the results are now apparent to even a casual observer. 

 More specifically, while previously the forests were going backward because of 

 fires, there is now an annual gain through growth. This increase translated into 

 dollars and cents is much greater than the total cost of protection and all other 

 expenses of the forests. 



The necessity to take immediate steps to prevent the public forests from 

 being destroyed by fire has placed a large emphasis on the protective feature of 

 the administration. The wise use of the forest resources in the development of 

 industries and in building up the country is essentially the real aim of maintain- 

 ing the forests. Protection from destruction is a first essential; otherwise there 

 would be no resources to use. But the purpose of the administration is not 

 merely protective, but constructive. It is a favorite theme of the opponents of 

 the national forest system to represent the forests as a separate Federal domain, 

 held for the use of future generations or for persons other than those now living 

 in the regions in which the forests are situated. Such statements are not only con- 

 trary to the spirit of the administration of the forests, but are disproved by the 

 results already being secured. The aim is to make the forests count in the highest 



