202 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Table 125. — Expenditures jor forest fire control on 

 commercial and noncommercial forest land ^ dur- 

 ing 1952, by section and region of the United 

 Stales and Coastal Alaska 



Section and 



region 



Expenditures 



North: 



New England 



Dollars 

 2, 343, 300 

 2, 658, 000 

 4, 758, 400 

 2, 230, 800 

 111, 600 



Percent 

 3.7 



Middle Atlantic. 



4. 2 



Lake States 



7.5 



Central _ . _ 



3.5 



Plains 



. 2 









Total 



12, 102, 100 



19. 1 









South: 



South Atlantic _ _ 

 Southeast 



4, 207, 200 



12, 325, 700 



3, 702, 700 



6.7 

 19.5 



West Gulf 



5.8 









Total - 



20, 235, 600 



32.0 





t 





West: 



Pacific Northwes 



8, 024, 800 



1 15, 608, 800 



4, 159, 500 



3, 059, 900 



12.7 



California 





24. 7 



Northern Rocky 

 Southern Rocky 



Mountain.. 

 Mountain 



6.6 



4.8 



Total 



30, 853, 000 



48. 8 









United States 



63, 190, 700 

 22, 100 



99. 9 



Coastal Alaska 



. 1 









Total - - - 



63, 212, 800 



100. 









1 Includes expenditures for protecting 9^7^ million acres 

 of nonforest land in California. 



Table 126. — Expenditure for forest fire control dur- 

 ing 1952 on lands of different ownerships in the 

 United States and Coastal Alaska 



Ownership 



Expenditures 



Private : 



North 



South 



Dollars 



9, 713, 300 

 17, 730, 600 

 15, 224, 000 



Percent 

 15.4 

 28. 



West 



24. 1 



All private 



42, 667, 900 



67.5 



National forest 



15, 370, 000 

 2, 456, 300 

 2, 718, 600 



24. 3 



Other Federal . _ _ _ _ _ 



3. 9 



Other public 



4.3 



All public 



20, 544, 900 



32.5 



United States and Coastal 

 Alaska 



63, 212, 800 



100. 



2 and Class 3 is inadequate to prevent substantial 

 fire losses during severe fire weather. If burned 

 acreages are to be reduced, it will be essential 

 that the level of protection be stepped up, not 

 only by moving unprotected (Class 4) land into 

 the Class 3 category but by intensifying organ- 

 ized effort all along the line. The southern re- 



gions and parts of the Central Region are faced 

 with the biggest challenge. In the West, the 

 difficult tasks are to intensify control in some 

 problem areas and to keep prepared against the 

 continuous threat of serious losses. 



Area Burned Is Trending Downward 



The combination of (1) better fire prevention, 



(2) extended coverage of organized protection, and 



(3) gradually increased effectiveness of fire con- 

 trol has produced a steady reduction in area 

 burned over the years. The downward trend in 

 area burned since 1935 reflects the results of the 

 Civilian Conservation Corps program of the 

 1930's, strengthened State fire control organiza- 

 tions, better leadership by all agencies, and great- 

 ly expanded fire control facilities and finances. 



The area burned on all lands requiring pro- 

 tection (fig. 76) has dropped steadily since the 

 1930's. In the past 10 years, however, the de- 

 crease has been due entirely to reduced losses on 

 lands being placed under protection for the first 

 time. Present trends in total area burned indi- 

 cate a gi-adual leveling off in tlie next 10 to 15 

 years. 



The historic development of better fire control 

 on Federal lands and the pattern of protection on 

 State and privately owned lands under the Clarke- 

 McNary Act of 1924 promise future reductions in 

 area burned. In consideration of this and present 

 trends in area burned, it is estimated that b}' 

 1960 the area burned on all 673 million acres 

 needing protection in the United States and 

 Coastal Alaska will have been reduced almost 

 6 million acres, or 40 percent compared to 1952. 

 The distribution of the anticipated acreage 

 burned in 1960 by sections as compared to 1952 is: 



Area burned in 1952 Estimated burn, 1960 







Proportion 



of total 

 forest area 





Proportion 



of total 

 forest area 



Section: 



Total 

 (M acres) 



requiring 

 protection 

 {percent) 



Total 

 (M acres) 



requiring 

 protection 

 (percent) 



North 



4,773 



2.3 



1,213 



0.6 



South 



9, 672 



4. 9 



7, 181 



3.6 



West and Coastal 











Alaska 



266 



. 1 



357 



. 1 



Total United 









States and 











Coastal Alaska 



14, 711 



2. 2 



8,751 



1. 3 



Although total burn, hence growth impact from 

 fire, is being reduced steadily, the trend of area 

 burned on protected land is unsatisfactory. 

 For the country as a whole, there has been no 

 significant improvement since about 1940. In 

 fact, burned area per million acres protected 

 (fig. 77) seemed to be on the increase from 1949 

 to 1952 for the coimtry as a whole. The situation 

 in the South is worse than in other sections. 

 There the great gains made as a result of extending 

 protection to unprotected areas have been partly 

 offset by increased losses on protected areas. 



