been made. For example, 1939 was more or less normal 

 in regard to area losses. Yet if an effective organization 

 had been lacking, the area burned very likely would have 

 reached such proportions as to class the season as" critical." 



Adequacy of Fire Protection 



The examples ot this discussion so far have been confined 

 to the area protected by the Forest Service, primarily 

 because the data for this area are more complete as well as 

 more accessible. But the progress in the protection ot 

 other forest lands has been more or less parallel. Measured 

 solely on the basis ot the ratio of area burned to area pro- 

 tected, the outstanding fire-control record ot recent years 

 is that of one ot five organizations financed by private 

 timber owners, the Clearwater Timber Protective .As- 

 sociation. 



The earliest effort at cooperative fire protection was 

 undoubtedly that ot the Slate Creek Settlers .'Association, 

 now extinct, organized during 1904 in what is now Shoshone 

 County. The Clearwater Timber Protective Association 

 and the Coeur d'.'\lene Timber Protective Association were 

 organized in 1905. These were among the earliest 

 attempts ot timber owners in the United States to unite in 

 the protection of their forests. The effectiveness of these 

 and later purely voluntary groups was strengthened by 

 the Fallon fire law in 1907 and by subsequent legislation, 

 but the credit for their organization belongs with the 

 timber owners themselves. These efforts represent a very 

 practical private contribution to forest conservation. It is 



2.bT 



2.0 - 



^ \.b\- 



^ 1.0- 



.5 - 



fiREfl BURRED 

 npTionPL forest; 



1910 - 1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 



I I 2 CRIT 



ICAL YEARS 



8 NONCRITICAL YEARS 



Figure 32. — Two years in each of the past three decades have earned 

 northern Idaho its reputation as a ^^ hot spot^ 



worth mentioning further that most of Idaho's progressive 

 forest legislation has been introduced at the instance ot 

 these timbermen and supported by them. 



The five associations operating today are listed below, 

 together with the estimated gross area of forest land 

 protected by each in 1939: 



Acres 



Clearwater Timber Protective .'Association 506, 000 



Potlatch Timber Protective Association 464, 000 



Pend Oreille Timber Protective .'Association 353, 000 



Priest Lake Timber Protective .Association 215, 000 



Pine Creek Timber Protective Association 58, 000 



1, 59fi,000 



Extensive protection by the State, with its own organiza- 

 tion, is spread rather thinly over another 1.6 million acres. 



In the area protected by the Clearwater Timber Pro- 

 tective Association, the average annual acreage burned 

 over during the period 1931-38 was held to the exception- 

 ally low rate of 8 acres in 10,000. If the exceptional losses 

 of 1931 are excluded, the record of the Potlatch Timber 

 Protective Association is also very good. 



For all of the five timber protective associations as a 

 group, the average annual fire loss was 41 acres in 10,000. 

 Data obtained from the office of the State Forester show 

 for the period 1931-38 the acreage burned annually per 



10,000 acres protected to be as follows: 



Acres 



Clearwater 8 



Potlatch 43 



Pend Oreille 85 



Priest Lake 32 



Pine Creek 86 



The fine record of the Clearwater Association is the result 

 ot strong emphasis on prevention, adequate coverage by 

 lookouts and firemen, hard hitting during initial stages of 

 fires, and development ot adequate transportation and 

 communication systems. Also, the existence of a high 

 proportion of green saw timber within the association 

 boundaries has made protection somewhat easier than in 

 the other protective units having considerable cut-over 

 land. Because of the high standards developed up to the 

 present time, the good record in the Clearwater may be 

 expected to be maintained even when the proportion ot 

 cut-over land is greatly increased. 



Complete information on the area given more or less 

 extensive protection by the State is not available. The 

 situation for this area as a whole, however, is not so good, 

 since the kind ot protection possible with the funds avail- 

 able is not sufficient to prevent large losses in the occasional 

 bad fire years. 



The fire losses on the national forests durmg the same 

 period were 71 acres in 10,000. Comparison between this 

 figure and the 41-acre achievement ot private associations 

 should not, however, be taken as an index ot relative 



32 



