The vegetation of this region consists of wire grass and 

 scrubby oaks on the drier places and a mixture of pepper- 

 bush, gallberries, various bays, swamp ironwood, reeds, 

 and huckleberries on the more moist sites. 



The soil is low in calcium and, as a result, the vegetation 

 has a very high fiber content in the leaves. This high fiber 

 content and rapid growth plus the oils and resin typical 

 of the above species, creates annually a head-high mass of 

 highly inflammable material. It quickly dries, even after 

 a downpour, and some claim that the only time during the 

 year that a fire season is absent is when it is raining. As 

 a result, late spring and summer fires burn with great 

 heat and cause a tremendous amount of damage. 



The large, unbroken and, in many cases, seemingly im- 

 penetrable tracts of forest land present their own special 

 set of conditions. Agricultual land developments follow 

 the county road systems and the forest land tends to be 

 in large blocks at the center of these highway-surrounded 

 sections. The forest land holdings of many owners thus 

 come together and form large unbroken tracts. There are 

 also many large forest tracts owned by individuals, lum- 

 ber companies, and corporations having no connection 

 with agricultural land. 



Indiscriminate backfiring of whole blocks of timber in 

 self-protection may have pathetic results as in one case in 

 Bladen County. The incident was described by a local 

 farmer who had assisted in fighting the so-called "back- 

 fire." He said, "We found one old Negro woman with two 

 crazy daughters holding three scared cows on a little grass 

 island in the timbers. The fire and smoke were 'biling' up 

 into the elements while they screamed and bellowed in 

 fright." 



This fire burned over one ownership of 5,000 acres that 

 was surrounded by small farms. When the fire started a 

 crew attacked the fire, but adjoining owners immediately 

 "protected" their property by backfiring. As a result the 

 whole area burned. 



County agents, U. S. Soil Conservation Service techni- 

 cians, foresters, lumbermen, and farmers were almost 

 unanimous in their opinion that the fire situation could 

 not be greatly improved until these areas are opened up so 

 that a fire crew can get near the fire and shut it off in a 

 small space, instead of backfiring around the whole area. 



The Division of Forestry and Parks believes that a 

 strong program of pre-suppression fire line flowing, with 

 landowners directly sharing the cost, offers the best single 

 answer to this problem of accessibility. Such a program 

 is being pushed as rapidly as funds for the necessary 

 heavy equipment become available. 



Attitudes of people concerning woods burning vary 

 widely. One group, consisting mainly of landowners who 

 own timberland, is growing more conscious of the damage 

 done by fire and is interested in preventive measures. How- 

 ever, many of them are against complete exclusion of fire 

 and want winter-burning of their lands as an insurance 

 measure against a late spring or early summer "wild" fire. 

 Some contend that "fires are worse since the warden pro- 

 gram started." They base their contention on the fact that 

 where forests are protected for a period of 6-10 years and 

 then an accidental fire burns over the area, the accumula- 

 tion of litter is such as to cause an almost complete loss of 

 trees even 16"-20" in diameter. The landowners contend 

 that it is far better to have a slight loss from a winter fire 



than a complete loss from a late spring or early summer 

 fire. 



Some landowners are still convinced that winter burn- 

 ing is the best insurance against hot spring fires. A defi- 

 nite action program will be necessary to convince them 

 that they can be adequately protected from "wild" fire. 



What is the attitude of the group consisting of tenant 

 farmers, sportsmen and others who are in and around the 

 woods, but don't own it? Too often their attitude is one of 

 unconcern. Many are not concerned about the future of 

 any area and are interested mainly in their own ideas and 

 pleasures. It is from this group that the lands of the first 

 group must be protected. Intensive education and enforce- 

 ment work would be of benefit in dealing with these peo- 

 ple. 



In spite of education, enforcement, or other proposals, 

 there will still be forest fires. Always there are the ac- 

 tivities of irresponsible persons and the effects of acci- 

 dents; otherwise, neither police forces nor insurance com- 

 panies would be needed. To cope with the situation in 

 Eastern North Carolina, the landowners must have out- 

 side assistance in suppression work. Outside assistance 

 must be furnished in the form of trained fire fighting per- 

 sonnel, additional fire towers, and heavy equipment such 

 as tractors and fire line plows and pumpers, furnished by 

 the State. In addition, the landowner must expend more 

 of his own money for maintaining fire breaks. The county 

 and state cannot be expected to protect fully the individ- 

 ual. He must bear his own share of the cost of producing 

 his crop of timber. 



STATE-WIDE FIRE CONTROL 



North Carolina does not have a state-wide fire control 

 budget or organization. Each county makes the decision 

 as to whether it will take part in fire control work. Co- 

 operating counties, through the County Commissioners, 

 appropriate money which is matched by state and federal 

 funds. In the fiscal year 1945-46 there were 63 cooperating 

 counties which appropriated $105,650. The state appropri- 

 ation was $187,189; the federal, $164,720. The total budget 

 was $469,517. With 12,440,000 acres of forest land under 

 protection, the average allotment was about 3.7 cents per 

 acre. Approximately 4,500,000 acres of forest land are 

 unprotected by organized fire fighting crews. 



It is a well-known fact that present appropriations are 

 not adequate to handle the situation. More money for ex- 

 pansion is sorely needed if the state is to help solve a very 

 trying problem. Lack of fire control has been one of the 

 main drawbacks to many forestry developments in this 

 state. It has been one of the principal reasons given by 

 lumber companies for not acquiring land and endeavoring 

 to grow some of their own timber. Fire frequency has also 

 been the reason for lack of interest in tree planting on 

 large unstocked areas. One farmer in the eastern section 

 planted several thousand trees early in the spring and lost 

 them to fire before they started to grow. 



What can be done to make the fire protection and sup- 

 pression system more effective in this state? The answer 

 may be found in adequate state-wide control. 



W. K. Beichler, State Forester of North Carolina, is 

 working on a state plan to present to the 1947 Legislature. 

 It is recognized that fire hazards are variable in the dif- 

 ferent regions of the state and the proposed plan classi- 

 fies these regions accordingly. As much as 16 cents an 



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