582 HOW DOES MAN CONSERVE HIS RESOURCES? 



Photo by Hutchinson — U. S. Forest Service 

 Our water supply depends upon our forests. It takes one day to destroy a forest but a hundred 



years to grow it. 



Indirectly, man is responsible for fire, one of the greatest enemies 

 of the forest. Most of the great forest fires of recent years, the 

 losses from which total in the hundreds of millions of dollars, have 

 been due to smokers, to railroads, or to carelessness in making 

 camp fires in the woods. It is estimated that fires have destroyed 

 over 12,000,000 acres of forest and caused a money damage of over 

 $17,000,000 in a single year. In the past, great forest fires have 

 devastated Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan with a loss of 

 thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition 

 to the loss in timber, the fires often burn out the organic matter 

 in the soil (the " duff ") forming the forest floor, thus preventing 

 the growth of new forests for many years to come. 



The United States Forest Service and the state forestry depart- 

 ments are constantly on guard against forest fires. Fire lookouts 

 are established at places most favorable for observation of large 

 areas. When a fire starts, notice is sent at once to the forest 

 rangers in that locality so that the fire may be put out before it 

 spreads. State and Federal governments alike do their best to 

 protect our forests. We must do our share in this work by 



