land. A planting cost ot some J13 per acre probably will 

 preclude much expansion in the planting program. Natu- 

 ral vegetation must, therefore, be chiefly depended upon 

 to cover the scars ot a turbulent fire history. 



Slash Disposal 



The subject ot forest fires and their control is not com- 

 pletely covered without mention ot slash disposal. /\t 

 best, the western white pine forests are considerably short 

 of being fireproof, as the raging fires ot the past have borne 

 witness. But after logging, with the forest floor covered 

 with a mat of limbs, tops, and fallen trees, the hazard is 

 infinitely greater. 



Partly because the very volume ot the debris sometimes 

 interferes with reproduction, but primarily because it 

 constitutes such a fire menace, measures to render this 

 logging slash less harmful have been necessary. On the 

 national forests, piling and burning the brush has been the 

 standard practice for many years. The Idaho forestry 

 law requires this type of slash disposal and the State 

 forester is responsible for enforcing the minimum require- 

 ments of the law. 



The Idaho law, which went into effect in 1925, has im- 

 measurably bettered the slash-disposal situation, but even 

 so, it is generally admitted that it has not functioned so 



well as desired. Some compliance has been excellent, in 

 other cases it has been relatively poor. In many places, 

 the burning slash piles have damaged the residual stands. 

 In some instances, the fires have escaped control and in- 

 flicted great destruction. In tact, there are a few cases 

 where slash disposal has differed from forest fire in 

 name only. 



There is disagreement as to the remedy for this situ- 

 ation. One school of thought believes that piling and 

 burning is the only practical solution to the problem and 

 that, if the timber operators complied in full spirit, 

 disposal could be accomplished effectively without ma- 

 terial losses. On the other hand, some feel that complete 

 hazard reduction cannot be achieved with fire without 

 some damage and hence some means ot hazard reduction 

 not requiring the complete burning ot slash would in many 

 cases be more satisfactory. The problem is essentially 

 one of cost; it that were not an important consideration, 

 practically all logging slash could be burned satisfactorily. 



It is sufficient here to note that slash disposal is an 

 important element ot fire protection, that its effectiveness 

 needs to be increased, and that, no matter what provisions 

 are finally agreed upon, full and satisfactory compliance 

 will not be achieved without a sufficiently large State 

 organization for supervision — which there is not now. 



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