Fire Protection in the Thirties and Forties 
Fire protection efforts during the 1930’s were also greatly 
assisted by the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps. 
Young men of the Corps fought fires; built roads, trails, 
bridges, fire towers, and telephone lines; and planted trees. 
At the peak of the programs, there were 311 forestry camps 
in the South—125 on national forests and 186 camps un- 
der State foresters, who directed projects located mainly on 
private lands. Georgia had more camps than other South- 
ern States because of the large area of land given fire protec- 
tion by local timber protective organizations that helped 
fund cooperative work. 
With the onset of World War II, protection efforts in the 
South became more difficult because personnel demands 
elsewhere left fewer firefighters to protect the forests. The 
disbanding of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1942 took 
away a major source of crews for controlling fires, a blow 
compounded by the loss of State foresters and seasoned fire 
guards to the military and defense industries. Southern 
State forestry agencies attempted to fill the gaps by recruit- 
ing larger volunteer crews and promoting the use of techni- 
cal innovations, especially the tractor-plow. 
There was an added need to protect military operations: 
smoke had to be reduced at airfields and military bases and 
fires near the coast had to be prevented to avoid silhouet- 
ting shipping to submarines. Fire agencies used the threat 
of legal action under the Federal Subversives Act to deter 
potential arsonists. 
Appeals to patriotism to protect against fire coincided with 
the growing value of pulpwood to feed the papermaking 
industry. Pulp and paper companies, investing in new 
plants and the forests to feed them, wanted better protec- 
tion than before. With rising demands for fire protection, 
both Federal funding and State expenditures steadily in- 
creased throughout the war years. 
Nevertheless, at the end of World War II, there were still 
millions of acres of forest in the South without fire protec- 
tion and substantial areas of idle cropland and pasture re- 
verting to trees. However, the growing realization of the 
value of forests for expanding industrial uses stimulated 
State legislatures to strengthen protection and management 
efforts, with a consequent marked rise in funding and areas 
protected and a decrease in acreage burned (app. table 2.10). 
In carrying out these expanded fire protection programs, for- 
estry agencies in many States worked with timber protec- 
tive organizations usually made up of large forest owners. 
In some locations, owners funded fire protection by sim- 
ply paying a per-acre assessment to the State. Elsewhere, lo- 
cal organizations carried out protection programs with their 
States reimbursing a share of the cost. 
Prescribed Burning 
Another factor in the control of wildfires was the develop- 
ment of prescribed burning as a forest management prac- 
tice. The early goal of fire exclusion in southern forests set 
by the Forest Service and other early foresters proved to 
be unrealistic. Field observations and experience plus stud- 
ies by researchers at the Southern Forest Experiment Sta- 
tion and elsewhere pointed to periodic prescribed burning as 
a practical way to limit destructive wildfires. In the early 
years, settlers had found that light burning in pine forests 
prevented the accumulation of flammable material that 
could fuel raging wildfires. Burning the woods also bene- 
fited grazing by bringing green grass in the spring. 
Although opposed for a time by some forest administrators, 
who feared the fight against wildfire would be compromised, 
prescribed burning has been widely adopted and has effec- 
tively reduced fire hazards and acreage burned while sav- 
ing on the costs of fire control. Losses of timber and other 
resources have been reduced. Where pine stands are desired, 
stand composition has been improved by favoring pines 
over unwanted hardwoods and other vegetation. Wildlife 
values, livestock grazing, and recreation also have been 
enhanced. It is estimated that several million acres have 
undergone prescribed burning annually in recent years. 
Passage of fencing laws in various States also has helped 
reduce the free ranging of livestock and lessened the incen- 
tive for general burning to improve livestock forage. 
Research and Educational Efforts 
Fire programs of prevention, suppression, and prescribed 
burning have been enhanced by many research and develop- 
ment efforts of public agencies, educational institutions, and 
the forest industries. The ‘technology of firefighting devel- 
oped rapidly after World War II with the use of tractors and 
fire plows, improved access, use of aircraft for fire detec- 
tion and direction of ground crews, development of two- 
way radio communication, and successful experience with 
use of fire retardants dropped from aircrafts. Recent con- 
cern about smoke from forest fires also stimulated research 
which indicated that impacts can be lessened by reducing 
wildfires and using prescribed burning at proper times. 
