OUR FORESTS 37 
of such lands in the United States, largely the result of destructive 
lumbering, fire, or both. 7 
The amount of deforested land in the United States has been in- 
creasing every year. The people have been taking an enormous toll 
of their forests, cutting over about 10,000,000 acres annually to meet 
their timber requirements. Since natural growth does not replace 
all of this acreage, more land is added annually to the total area 
of deforested lands. 
While it is hoped the day of wasteful forest exploitation is nearing 
an end, forest fires are still with us, and they form one of the 
greatest problems of present-day forestry. For the last 25 years 
the Forest Service and some of the States have been wrestling with 
fire on the public forests and have developed extensive systems 
of fire suppression and control. The Forest Service is also coop- 
erating with State officials and through them with private agencies 
in the protection of forest lands from fire. 
Nevertheless, each year sees fire increase our acreage of devastated 
land, causing losses amounting to millions of dollars. More than 
73,000 fires occurred in 1938 on the forest land protected by Federal, 
State, and other agencies, and it is estimated that in the same 
year over 117,000 fires occurred in unprotected lands. Of the total 
number of fires on protected lands 25 percent were caused by smokers; 
25.4 percent by incendiaries; 13.6 percent by debris burning; 9 per- 
cent by lightning; 4.3 percent by railroads; 6 percent by campers; 
1.8 percent by lumbering; 8.3 percent by miscellaneous agencies; 
and 6.6 percent were of unknown origin. There is need for still 
greater effort in the suppression of forest fires, not only by the 
Federal and State Governments, but by private owners as well. 
Only about two-thirds of our total area of forest land is as yet 
under any system of organized protection, and much of this pro- 
tection is still inadequate. The suppression of fire is vital to our 
continued forest prosperity. 
Some deforested lands, of course, may be more valuable for other 
purposes than for the growing of trees. On others, however, the 
forest is necessary for watershed protection or for the industrial 
prosperity of the region. In many cases lands have been entirely 
deprived of the ability to reforest themselves, and to bring them back 
to any degree of productivity man must lend nature a hand by 
planting young trees. Since all land should be put to work growing 
the crop for which it is best fitted it is certainly poor economy to let 
forest lands lie idle, especially in view of the fact that our forest 
needs are not appreciably diminishing. 
The Federal Government and the States cooperating under the 
Clarke-McNary Act are each year reforesting a portion of their de- 
nuded lands. Many plantings are also made by municipalities, lum- 
ber companies and other industrial and private organizations, schools, 
and colleges. Farmers are planting for the extension and improve- 
ment of farm woodlands and windbreaks. The total area planted 
by all of these agencies amounts to about 245,000 acres each year. 
But millions of acres still need planting. 
Farmers and other landowners wishing to reforest their lands can 
obtain advice and assistance from their State or extension foresters. 
The States cooperating under section 4 of the Clarke-McNary Act 
