Forestry and the National Forests. 



11 



present crop. Many operators are not owners and do their logging 

 at the least possible cost without regard to the use to which the land 

 may be put afterwards. Heavy grazing of forest lands, which can 

 not be overcome at once because of enormous investments hi range 

 improvements that require long continued use in order to pay out, in- 

 terferes with the greatest production of timber. Forest fires, particu- 

 larly those caused by human beings, constitute a tremendous obstacle 

 in the way of successful management of both publicly and privately 

 owned forest land, as years of effort may be lost in a few hours of con- 

 flagration. 



Seed trees and proper disposal of brush make possible a new stand of timber after 



logging. 



FIRES: THE ARCH ENEMY OF FORESTS. 



From 500 to 1.000 fires are put out by Forest Service employees 

 in the Southwest each year. Rangers and fire guards reach a great 

 number of these fires and extinguish them while they are small, but 

 each fire is a menace to public property and welfare. 



Two-thirds of the fires are caused by lightning and are unavoid- 

 able. Those comprising the other third are due to carelessness and 

 could be entirely eliminated if every citizen would regard the na- 

 tional property as he does his own house and would exercise the same 

 care. The average person is not wilfully careless, but he is often 

 woefully uninformed. It is for his benefit that the " Six rules " 

 are given on page 16. 



The damage wrought by crown fires — that is, fires that get into 

 the tops and burn even the grown trees — is obvious and requires 

 no comment. The blackened wastes speak for themselves, but the 

 damage done by ground fires that burn only along the surface of the 

 earth is less well known. These ground fires kill the little seedlings, 

 and these little seedlings are the keystone of forestry. Especially is 



