Forest Fires in the Intermountain Region. 7 
careless campers in starting fires. Here about two-thirds of the 
fires are caused by lightning and only about one-fourtl. by campers. 
It must be remembered in the above statements that only one kind 
of human carelessness—that of campers—has been mentioned. 
Sparks from locomotives, brush burning, and other agencies con- 
trolled by people make a further addition to the list of fires caused 
by human beings. It is obvious that if people would be careful with 
fire in the woods the fire problem would practically be solved, except 
in a few forests of western Idaho, where lightning is, indeed, a very 
serious proposition. Taking the intermountain region as a whole, 
human beings constitute a much greater problem than any other 
agency where forest fires are concerned. On more than three-quar- 
ters of the area the danger irom persons far outweighs the danger 
from lghtning. 
In some forests of the country the human problem is largely the 
problem of the incendiary, who sets fire to the forests when condi- 
tions are the very worst and who is accordingly very destructive. 
The intermountain region, fortunately, is almost free of the “ fire- 
bug,” incendiary fires averaging only about 2 per year for the whole 
region. People of the intermountain country generally realize that 
the effects are deplorable, although they are prone to underestimate 
the damage which is done. Accordingly, incendiary fires in this 
region are rare except in Nevada, where 6 per cent of the fires are of 
this character. This is largely explained by the fact, disclosed 
in records that are an average for the past 15 years, that there has 
been some incendiarism on the part of grazers who have thought 
that burning the range improved forage conditions. This belief has 
now been overcome, and the forest fire started by intention is 
becoming more rare. Human carelessness, then, is the big problem. 
It necessitates a large fire-fighting force and much special work, not 
only in putting out but also in preventing forest fires. 
DAMAGE DONE BY FOREST FIRES. 
It is a very difficult thing indeed to estimate exactly, in dollars 
and cents, the damage from a forest fire. It is relatively easy to 
estimate the amount of timber destroyed; but if the timber was 
standing in distant and inaccessible valleys where it probably would 
not have been cut for many years it is difficult to put a price upon it. 
It is still more difficult to value the forage destroyed. These are 
the most obvious of the losses, and they are comparable to the losses 
an insurance adjuster examines into when a city building burns. 
Once the building is destroyed, however, the damage is done. The 
insurance is paid, and probably a building better than the first 
arises to take its place. It is different with the forest fire. When 
the first damage has been done the real destruction has just begun. 
In forestry the present crop of timber is not the only thing to deal 
with, but generations of little trees yet to come must be considered, 
also, the forage conditions as they will be next year, the year after, 
and for many years after that. Finally, the earth itself on the 
burned-over areas must be considered. In this region of irrigated 
farms the value of the timber and forage is by no means the greatest 
