penditures although visualized on a 50-50 sharing 
basis, have been stepped up in recent years. ‘They 
did not exceed 26 percent of the total before Con- 
gress raised the annual authorization from 2.5 
to 9 million dollars in 1944. In the fiscal year 
1948, with the full 9-million-dollar authorization 
available they were only about 40 percent because 
of the increases in State expenditures. In addition 
much Federal aid in fire protection was given 
through the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1933 
to 1941 and under the special wartime measures 
for protection of strategic areas from 1942 to 1946. 
All States except Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, 
North Dakota, and Wyoming participated in co- 
operative fire protection in 1947. Wyoming and 
North Dakota may eventually participate. In 
Arizona, the only remaining State with great nat- 
ural forests, nearly all the commercial forest land 
is federally owned. 
In spite of all that has been accomplished in 
cooperative protection, much still remains to be 
done. According to a survey completed in April 
1946, more than one-fourth of the 439 million 
acres of private and State lands needing organized 
protection did not have it. ‘These neglected lands 
are virtually all privately owned. Bringing them 
under effective protection is the No. | task in 
forest-fire control. 
The bulk of the land in need of protection in 
1946 but lacking it was in the Southeast, West 
Gulf, Central, and southern Plains regions (table 
27). In the Southeast and West Gulf regions, 
where half of the private and State forest land 
lacks organized protection, fires burned over 17.6 
percent of the unprotected area in 1946 in contrast 
to 1.6 percent of the protected territory. 
Some light is thrown upon the adequacy of 
fire control for the 319 million acres under or- 
ganized protection by comparing the average an- 
nual burn with the “allowable” burn (fig. 25). 
This protection goal, established in 1946 for each of 
the cooperating States, represents the maximum 
percent of the land that can burn over annually 
consistent with satisfactory forest management. 
The allowable burn ranges from 0.13 percent 
in the North Rocky Mountain and Lake regions 
to 1.7 in the Southeast; the country-wide average 
is 0.6. In the period 1941—45, the Lake region was 
the only one with satisfactory protection, although 
several individual States in other regions held fires 
within the allowable burn. Nation-wide, after 
35 years, an average of | percent of the protected 
Forests and National Prosperity 
area still burned over annually. And it must. be 
kept in mind that protection has not yet been 
started on 27 percent of the State and private lands 
in need of it. 
TABLE 27.—Private and State forest lands without’ 
organized fire protection, and annual burn 
Without 
organized 
Region fire 
protec- 
tion? 
Annual 
burn ? 
Million 
acres Percent 
52 6 
14 8 
4 1 
2h), 5 
Plains (W. Okla. and W. Tex.) 13 19 
North Rocky Mtn. 4 (°) 
South Rocky Mtn. 6 () 
United States 120 17 
1Estimate for 1946. 
? Average, 1941_45. 
3No reliable data. 
New England_.. fy 
LLL LLL LLL LLL 
Southeast.._._--- LLL 
West Gulf. LLL 
Pacific Northwest_ VZZA 
California_________ CAMALLLLZZ) 
No. Rocky Mtn. __? 
So. Rocky Mtn. __ 
United States ____ 
0 0.5 1.0 15 2.0 25 
PERCENT OF TOTAL PROTECTED AREA 
GER Average annual burn EZZA Allowable burn goal 
Figure 25.—Relation of average annual burn, 1941-45, to the 
allowable burn, private and State forest lands under or- 
ganized protection. 
83 
