194 



TIMBER RESOURCES TOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Table 117. — Growth impact from fires oj 1952 and from fires oj the average year, 1948-52, on commercial 



forest land in the United States and Coastal Alaska 





Growing stock 



Sawtimber 





1952 



Average year 

 1948-52 



1952 



Average year 

 1948-52 



Section 



Mor- 

 tality 



Growth 

 loss 



Growth 

 impact 



Growth 

 impact 



Propor- 

 tion of 

 United 

 States 

 total 



Mor- 

 tality 



Growth 

 loss 



Growth 

 impact 



Growth 

 impact 



Propor- 

 tion of 

 United 



States 

 total 



North 



Mil- 

 lion 

 cu. ft. 

 36 

 126 

 73 



Million 



cu. ft. 



157 



1,252 



42 



Mil- 

 lion 

 cu. ft. 

 193 

 1,378 

 115 



Per- 

 cent 

 11 

 82 

 7 



Million 



cu. ft. 



92 



1,477 



235 



Percent 



5 



82 



13 



Mil- 

 lion 

 bd.-ft. 

 71 

 294 

 414 



Million 



bd.-ft. 



815 



5, 508 



266 



Mil- 

 lion 

 bd.-ft. 

 886 

 5,802 

 680 



Per- 

 cent 

 12 

 79 

 9 



Million 



bd.-ft. 



421 



6, 220 



1,388 



Percent 

 5 



South -- _ 



78 



West 



17 



Total, United 



States 



Coastal Alaska 



235 



1 



1,451 



1 



1, 686 

 2 



100 



1, 804 



100 



779 

 2 



6, 589 

 2 



7, 368 

 4 



100 



8,029 



100 



United States and 

 Coastal Alaska 



236 



1,452 



1, 688 









781 



6,591 



7,372 





















i 



' Data not available. 

 Table 118. — Number of fires on protected land in continental United States, by cause and section, 1962 



Cause 



North 



South 



West 



Total, Uni 



ted States 



Lightning 



Number 

 384 



Percent 

 1.3 



Number 

 1,446 



Percent 

 1.7 



Number 

 6, 182 



Percent 

 46. 



Number 

 8,012 



Percent 

 6.3 



Railroad.^ 



Lumbering 



1,637 



284 



5.7 

 1. 



1,627 

 2,276 



1.9 



2. 6 



347 



514 



2. 6 

 3.8 



3,611 

 3,074 



2.8 

 2.4 



Total 



1,921 



6.7 



3,903 



4. 5 



861 



6.4 



6, 685 



5.2 



Camping . _. 



1,476 

 8, 160 

 8,465 

 4,457 



5.2 

 28. 7 

 29.7 

 15. 7 



3, 176 



15, 190 



16, 178 

 37, 637 



3. 7 

 17.6 

 18. 8 

 43.7 



1,015 



2,314 



1, 173 



346 



7. 6 



17.2 



8.7 



2. 6 



5,667 

 25, 664 

 25, 816 

 42, 440 



4. 4 



Smoking _ , ._ _ 



20. 



Debris burning 



Incendiarism. 



20.2 

 33. 2 







Total 



22, 558 



79.3 



72, 181 



83.8 



4,848 



36. 1 



99. 587 



77.8 



Miscellaneous 



3, 611 



12. 7 



8,561 



10.0 



1,538 



11. 5 



13,710 



10.7 



Total, all causes 



28, 474 



100. 



86, 091 



100. 



13, 429 



100. 



127, 994 



100. 



But such owners tend to be the shining exceptions. 

 Man^' more are not yet sufficiently concerned to 

 obtain adequate protection. 



A Look at the Status of Fire Control 

 Major Milestones in Fire Control 



The initial step in the development of fire 

 control on State and private forest lands was 

 taken by the large industrial owners in the West. 

 Wishing to protect their own holdings, they 



organized timber protective associations, the firet 

 of them in Idaho, in 1906. The States also began 

 to recognize their responsibility in protecting 

 private lands from fire and, by 1910, 16 had made 

 a start toward organized fire control. 



Two Federal legislative milestones gave impetus 

 to the protection of State and private lands; the 

 Weeks Law of 1911, and the Clarke-McNary Act 

 of 1924. Under the highly effective cooperative 

 fire-control program that resulted, the States pro- 

 vide the administration and accept du-ect re- 

 sponsibility for supervising and handling the job. 



