FOREST RANGERS' CATECHISM 37 



26. Is there any restriction against dropping lighted cigarettes or 

 cigars from aircraft? 



There is a provision in the air commerce regulations against drop- 

 ping or releasing any objects from aircraft, which would endanger 

 life or damage property. The Department of Commerce has called 

 this provision to the attention of all pilots of whom the department 

 has record and has advised them that the penalties which are pro- 

 vided for violations will be rigidly enforced. 



27. How does everyone lose when forests burn? 



Cities, towns, and farms lose water for domestic use and irriga- 

 tion. Water and power companies and ranchers lose through soil 

 erosion and the silting of reservoirs and canals. Livestock owners 

 lose forage for their stock, lumber companies lose timber, logging 

 camps, and machinery, together with loss of time of their employees 

 and reduced output. Woods workers lose wages, sportsmen lose their 

 hunting grounds, and game and fish are killed or driven away. Re- 

 creationists lose the beauty spots which are destroyed and camp 

 grounds that are laid waste by fire. Hotels and resorts lose by 

 reduced vacation travel, and merchants lose by lessened demands for 

 goods by traders and local unemployed residents. Taxpayers lose 

 by increased taxes levied to pay the cost of fire fighting. 



"LIGHT BURNING" 



1. What do you mean by " light burning? " 



Theoretically, light burning means the burning of the surface of 

 the ground to rid the forest floor of litter and thereby reduce the 

 fire hazard. In actual practice, however, when the ground litter is 

 damp enough to allow the fire to burn the surface only lightly, fires 

 will run very slowly or not at all. To secure the results which the 

 " light burners " desire, that is, a " clean burn," the forest cover and 

 ground litter must be so dry that any fire set will destroy not only 

 the ground litter but all of the small trees and reproduction which 

 forms the basis of the future forest. 



2. Why did Indians start fires in the forest? 



Tradition says that they did so to drive out game, but no positive 

 proof can be found that they did this as a regular custom over any 

 large areas. The probabilities are that Indians set very few fires. 

 With the coming of the white man, and the discovery of gold, fires 

 became more numerous and spread year after year, largely 

 unchecked. 



3. Were there any big fires in the forests of California in the early 

 days? 



Yes. Records prove that the forests of California were swept 

 by many large early day fires. Great conflagrations burned both in 

 the northern and southern parts of the State from four to six months 

 and frequently covered more than 100,000 acres of forest and even 

 major watersheds before being extinguished by rain. On the burned- 

 over areas of the State, such fires have reduced the forest capital more 



