FOREST PROTECTION 



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70,00G 







60,000 

 50,000 

 40,000 

 30,000 

 20,000 

 10,000 

 



1 



STATE 







0-19.9 



3 





STATES 



8 



STATES 



4 



STATES 

 20-39.9 40-59.9 60-79.9 



21 



STATES 

 80-100 





percent of protected land in classes 1 and 2 



Figure 75. — Area burned per million acres protected, 37 States, in relation to protection status, 1952. 



The upswing in area burned per million acres 

 protected in the South and the lack of much im- 

 provement in the North and West is disturbing. 

 Although actual funds available have increased 

 40 percent since 1947, the coincident increase in 

 area over which available funds are spread, to- 

 gether with a decrease in the value of the dollar, 

 has weakened the per-acre effectiveness of fire 

 control. 



An anticipated expansion in fire control forces 

 and facilities will result from forest fire protection 

 compacts that have been organized among the 

 States. These compacts, federally approved, are 

 intended to encourage member States to develop 

 integrated forest fire plans, maintain adequate 

 forest iire-fighting services, and provide mutual 

 aid in fighting fires. 



STATUS OF PROTECTION FROM 

 DISEASES 



Tree diseases operate in many ways that reduce 

 the final yield of timber stands and the quality of 



the wood produced. Root diseases kill or stunt 

 large numbers of trees. Bark diseases may 

 girdle and kill trees or produce open wounds 

 leading to decay. Wood-rotting diseases reduce 

 or destroy the merchantability of timber. Leaf 

 and needle diseases check growth and sometimes 

 kill. 



Most of our forest tree diseases are native, 

 that is, so far as we know, they have always 

 existed in this country. This group includes 

 most of our heart rots and many other normally 

 endemic diseases. Native diseases, however, 

 sometimes become temporarily epidemic. Many 

 of our most destructive diseases, for example, 

 white pine blister rust and chestnut blight, are 

 not native but are known to have been introduced 

 into this country from other continents. Para- 

 sites brought into a new region often find some 

 tree species particularly susceptible to their 

 attack, partly because of the lack of any estab- 

 lished balance between parasite and the new 

 host. This results in an epidemic. 



One of the features of disease problems is that 



