Figure 3S. — /Average gross acreage of all ownerships burned annually 

 1931-37 (total all types, 69,900 acres) anil the equivalent complete destruc- 

 tion or effective hum, on the forested areas. 



forests, a realistic appraisal requires the inclusion ot other 

 items. National-torest roads serve many uses, but the 

 system has been constructed primarily for one purpose — 

 fire protection. Therefore, part ot the depreciation and 

 maintenance cost ot these roads is as much an item ot 

 fire-control expense as the actual labor charges on the fire 

 line. The same is true for the cost ot constructioti and 

 maintenance of fire-guard stations, telephone lines, and 

 other protection tacilitics. A portion ot the administrative 

 overhead also is chargeable to fire. According to Forest 

 Service cost keeping, 68 percent of the costs tor all ad- 

 ministrative purposes in northern Idaho in 19.vS were 

 directly or indirectly chargeable to fire protection. On this 

 basis, the total average annual fire cost in the national 

 torests is actually around 21 cents per acre instead ot 8.7 

 cents. 



Losses From Fire 



The complete toll to fire includes not only the out-ot- 

 pocket costs tor protection ot the total area but also the 

 values destroyed on the areas actually burned the loss ot 

 wages, profits, and freight revenues. During the period 

 1931-37 an average of ()9,9()() acres of forest land of all 

 ownerships was burneii annually. Ihe tact that 40 

 percent ot this was nonconmiercial, whereas only .M percent 

 ot the total torest area is noncommercial, mdicates the 

 relativeU greater fire losses in the back country. Since 

 bad fire \oars ha\e occurred two per decade since 1*'1(\ 

 this a\erage burn, based i>n a 7-year period th.it contained 

 two bail years, might be considered somewhat too high. 

 It must lie remembered, hiiwevcr, that these are "yard. 

 Stick" figures and iiotlunii more. 



One measure ot \alues destroyed by fire is the size of th<, 

 timber. .Another is the actual destruction within the 

 gross area burned. In figure 35 the commercial forest land 

 burned is divided into tour classes based on timber size. 

 The gross area burned in saw timber, pole, and seedling 

 and sapling stands (33,900 acres) does not, however, 

 represent the area added to the deforested total each year. 

 Contrary to the common concept of a forest fire in northern 

 Idaho as all-destrcning, leaving only waste in its wake, 

 not all of the timber within fire lines is actually destroyed. 

 To allow for areas missed and stands only scorched or 

 partially killed, the total figures just shown must be dis- 

 counted somewhat. These discounted losses may be 

 expressed in terms of effective area killed annually, as 

 follows: 



jicres 



Saw-timl)er stands 9,300 



Pole 6,500 



Seedling and sapling 11,100 



In other words, although 33,900 acres were burned over 

 in these forested stands, the actual losses were equivalent 

 to complete destruction ot the stands on only 26,900 

 acres. 



It has been previously shown that the green saw-timber 

 cut from the torest amounts to 624 million board feet 

 yearly. In contrast, m 1931 37, an average ot 91 million 

 board feet (log scale) ot saw timber was killed by fire each 

 year, the losses by species being western white pine 15.3, 

 ponderosa pine 8.9, and other species 66.7. The effect 

 of fire on the sustainable cut is even greater, as allowance 

 must be made tor the losses in young stands. 



It is not stricth' accurate, however, to speak of timber 

 killeil in the sense ot absolute economic waste, because 

 much is salvageti tor tuel wood and smaller volumes tor 

 other jiroducts. \ ery little duplication is involved 

 between cutting-drain and fire-drain estimates, however, 

 since all but a small and indeterminate portion ot the 

 dead-cut wood has been eliminated trom the cutting-ilrain 

 figures. 



PI tin ting 



It was pointed cnit in the torest inventory discussion 

 that nearly 1 million acres ot commercial torest land is now 

 detorested and that, owing to double burns, much ot this 

 area is likeK to remain in a nonstocked condition for 

 some time. Considering the extensive acreage which has 

 been burned since the beginning ot the century, this seems 

 a reasonably small figure. Ihe torests ot northern Idaho 

 have exhibited a fortunate tenacity in restivking tollowing 

 single burns, as is testified by the almost 2 million acres ot 

 stands under 41 years ot age. This restiKking has rcsultc*.! 

 principally trom natural regeneration, as onlv 5'),0(X'> acres 

 oi better areas were successtully plantcil between l'X» 

 and 1938- all by the lorest Service on national-forest 



35 



