LOGGING PRACTICE IN THE LAKE STATES 19 
TABLE 4.—Ten-year-average fire record, Lake States, 1916-1925 
State Area under Total area burned 
protection annually 
; Acres Acres Per cent 
INET Chip an eee) erent eee ere be eee be ee OES a eee 15, 000, 000 297, 546 1.98 
IMUNNeS0 balan ae eee Ee Ss re ee Ee a ees 20,000, 000 381, 423 1.91 
NVWHSCONSIMteeeetrrntiae tomers rn ae eee eee ee oe eee 6, 000, 000 148, 422 2.47 
Although a marked improvement in the reduction of the fire 
menace appears when these statistics are compared by five-year 
periods, the results are still a long way from the 0.5 per cent, or even 
1 per cent, set as the criterion of desirable fire protection. Even on 
the national forests in the Lake States, where fire protection is more 
intensive than on other lands, the results fall far short of the goal. 
Thus on the Minnesota National Forest the area burned over annually 
(10-year average) is 1.4 per cent of the area under protection, and 
only about 60 per cent of the fires are discovered within 30 minutes 
after they have started and about 75 per cent within 1 hour. About 
70 per cent of the fires are reached within 2 hours and 90 per cent 
within 4 to 6 hours after they are discovered. On the Michigan 
National Forest more than three-fourths of all the fires are discovered 
within 15 to 20 minutes after they have started, and are reached 
within two hours after they are discovered. On the Superior 
National Forest, because of the shorter fire season and smaller fire 
hazard, the annual area burned over is only 0.8 per cent of the area 
under protection; yet the fires that do occur cover a wider territory 
than in the other States, as only 10 per cent can be reached within 
six hours after the fires are discovered. 
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 
Experience indicates that under normal conditions and over large 
areas an efficient fire-protection organization, after it has become 
established and the initial cost of improvements and equipment has 
been met, may be maintained at an annual cost of 3 to 5 cents an acre 
for the area under protection. 
The expense of fire protection may in the course of years be reduced 
by the removal of hazards and risks which are at present a source of 
fire danger. This is especially true in State forests or near-by pri- 
vate forests where, because of more intensive actual forest work, men 
constantly employed will always be on the ground. ‘These men will 
normally take any measures that may be necessary to protect the 
forests and thus reduce expenditures for the distinctly protective 
operations. Likewise, as soon as large tracts of forests are placed 
under actual forest management, protection expenses, as such, will 
decrease. To these considerations must also be added the growing 
public sentiment against forest fires as a result of greater realization 
of the value of the forests. 
Experience further shows that the most effective results in fire 
protection are obtained when the State assumes the entire responsi- 
bility for maintaining the central organization for protection of all 
forest land, but with the different parties concerned sharing in the 
