Report of .Superintendent of Forests 



1903 



To tl)e Forest, Fisf) and Game Commission: 



GENTLEMEN. — -.1 respectfully submit herewith my annual report in relation 

 to the work of the Forestry Department and such other business as was 

 entrusted to its care during the past year. Owing to the prolonged drought 

 last spring, together with certain causes beyond the control of the Department, the 

 forest fires at that time were the most extensive and destructive of any that have 

 occurred since the organization of the Forest Commission. Other States also 

 suffered serious losses, the extent of the burned areas and destruction of timber 

 in some of them exceeding that in New York. 



Forest Fires. 



The woodland fires in the Adirondacks generally occur in April and May. At 

 this time of year the ground in our forests is covered with a thick layer of dead 

 leaves, which, with the first warm sun and south wind, become so dry that a single 

 spark will ignite them and start a blaze that will immediately spread in all directions; 

 or, under the influence of a strong breeze, travel rapidly over brush lands and 

 through the timber belts. If in its course it reaches the slash or dry refuse of an 

 old lumber job, the flames cannot be controlled, and the fire increases in its headway 

 and intensity. 



In June, or after the hardwood trees are in full leaf, there is little danger. 

 Fires occur but seldom then; and if they do they cannot run far, as the dense 

 shade and leafy undergrowth retain moisture and promote conditions that prevent 

 any serious damage. During the last eighteen years we have had but one serious 

 fire in the summer — that of 1899 — which was due to the extraordinary heat and 

 prolonged drought in August and September of that year. The fires at that time 

 occurred mostly on open, waste lands; and it was noticed that in many places 

 their progress was arrested when they reached a body of green timber. But in 



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