FORESTRY COMMISSION. 43 



THE GREATEST ENEMY OF THE FOREST RESERVE— FIRE. 



BY ARTHUR HILL. SAGINAW. 



Among the most vivid recollections of my early boyhood are those of 

 certain days when the smoke from the burning forests about Saginaw was 

 so dense that children living in the outskirts lost their way in coming ta 

 and going from school. We boys played hide-and-seek during school 

 recess and could stand in the open not more than sixty feet apart yet not 

 be recognizable. 



Wild animals were driven by the fierce pursuing flames into the ckiar- 

 ings and even into the very heart of the town where I saw a fine black 

 bear treed and captured by Mr. Thomas Merrill whose courage and reso- 

 lution filled my heart with an admiration, which in his ninetieth year^. 

 with his noble life and sturdy bearing, he still commands. 



Immense conflagrations followed in 1S71 and 1881 overrunning vast 

 regions of the State with such destruction of life and property as to 

 evoke the charity of the State and the nation. 



These fires originated in and were mainly confined to the pine bearing 

 areas, spreading either in the standing timber or over the debris left 

 by our lumbermen. 



Today with our pine forests gone and the old slashings generally 

 burned over again and again, consuming the combustible material, the 

 lire perils of these earlier da.^s no longer seriously threaten us. The- 

 larger proportion of the territory which bore pine is now devoted to 

 agriculture and this will be greatly increased. 



It is now the aim and end of the State Forestry Commission, acting^ 

 in obedience to a great and enlightened public demand to bring about 

 a renewal of the forest growth over areas unfitted for profitable farming, 

 and if forest fires can be prevented or controlled, tills result can be 

 easilj' obtained. There are scarcely any of our northern pine plains that 

 will not produce timber of some variety and value. Experiments now 

 being made will determine the varieties best suited to soil, climate con- 

 ditions and ultimate benefit and money profit. 



When plantings are made fire lanes can be established and there can 

 be alternations or bands of coniferous and deciduous trees to diminish 

 the fire risk. 



When the timber is self seeding in pine, as in the case with the greater 

 portion of the Reserve, these fire lanes must be established and outlined 

 with a double line of plowed furrows, each year burned between. 



With these preparations and proper diligence on the part of the Fire 

 Wardens, the fire danger would be small, except for the gross carelessness 

 of those who most enjoy the varied pleasures which the forest yields. 



The hunter, the camper, the fisherman, the berry picker, build fires, 

 which they Wantonly permit to spread over the country before their eyes. 

 on their mission of destruction. 



