Because of factors such as 

 cost and concern over air 

 pollution, prescribed burn- 

 ing is not universally prac- 

 ticed throughout the South, 

 and control of wildfire 

 remains a serious problem. 

 In 1978, for example, more 

 than 130,000 wildfires 

 burned some 3.2 million 

 acres of forest land in the 

 1 1 Southern States. 



A continuing program of 

 research aimed at control 

 of wildfire has, therefore, 

 long been considered 

 essential, and this research 

 has led to significant im- 

 provements in prevention 

 and suppression of wildfire. 

 Early research by G.M. 

 Jemison, R.M. Nelson, and 

 T.T. Keetch at the South- 

 eastern Station, for example, 

 helped develop improved 

 systems of fire-danger 

 rating, a matter of great 

 importance to forest admin- 

 istrators. Improved under- 

 standing of fire behavior 

 and damage stemmed from 

 the work of G.M. Byram 

 and coworkers in studies 

 involving physics, chemistry, 

 meteorology, and new forms 

 of operations research. 

 Other investigations at the 

 southern fire laboratory in 

 Macon, GA, have included 



mathematical and physical 

 models of free-burning fires 

 and techniques of simula- 

 tion that provide an im- 

 proved basis for fire plan- 

 ning. 



Studies of fire retardants 

 and aerial bombing tech- 

 niques using air tankers to 

 drop water and chemicals 

 on fires have helped improve 

 fire control. Development 

 and widespread use of 

 fireplows in constructing 

 firelines for control of both 

 wildfire and prescribed 

 burns, pioneered by such 

 men as Art Shepherd, have 

 been of tremendous value 

 to firefighters in the relatively 

 flat terrain of the South. 

 Scientists have also devel- 

 oped better techniques for 

 local fire-weather forecasts 

 (e.g., Paul and Clayton 

 1978), useful both for timing 

 of prescribed fires and for 

 presuppression activities. In 

 1 979, a national fire effects 

 workshop (USDA Forest 

 Service 1978a) brought 

 together much of the avail- 

 able information on the 

 effects of fire on fuels, soils, 

 air, water, and fauna and 

 flora. 



In the area of fire prevention, 

 studies have developed a 



14 



