SPECIAL REPORT ON FOREST FIRES 



INTRODUCTION 



The damage done by forest fires in the past has reached enor- 

 mous proportions, but, until the last few years, it has not received 

 the attention which so large a destructive agency deserves. To be 

 sure, some of the worst conflagrations, such as those in the Adiron- 

 dacks in 1903 and 1908, and those in the Northwest in 1910, have 

 aroused considerable newspaper comment; but even then, the pub- 

 lic interest has been more concerned with the threatened loss of 

 life and possible damage to camps or village buildings, than with 

 the enormous destruction of timber and consequent damage to the 

 productivity of the forest. The growing scarcity of timber caused 

 the lessons so forcibly taught by these big fires to be heeded by 

 many, and the years 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913 have seen 

 many needed improvements made in methods of fire protection for 

 forest regions. 



The importance of this subject has been realized by thinking 

 men in this country for many years. Progress in forest fire legis- 

 lation has gone hand and hand with the advance of forestry. This 

 is only natural, for the practice of true forestry is impossible with- 

 out the establishment of an adequate system of fire protection. In 

 fact, this has in most cases been the first forestry measure adopted 

 by the Federal Forest Service in its administration of the National 

 Forests, and by the various states which have inaugurated forest 

 policies. New York was the first State to formulate and enact 

 practical laws for dealing with the protection of forests from fire. 

 Lumbermen and land owners, also, have formed associations and 

 devised methods for rendering their holdings as safe as possible 

 from the fire danger. It is a well recognized fact that protection 

 from fire is the first step which needs to be taken in the establish- 

 ment of a scientific system for the management of timberlands. 

 Without it, the application of even the most elementary principles 

 of forestry is useless. 



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